Cherbourg play to a receptive ICA crowd

In the seven months since the release of the fantastic Last Chapter of Dreaming EP, Cherbourg have been busy.  Not only have they been touring but they have also brought out another EP in the form of the appropriately dark Into the Dark (click here to read the Rare review) and single No More Flowers will be coming out on 5th October.  In a way their performance at the ICA on Wednesday was a bit of a homecoming gig - the room was packed with fans and friends and the atmosphere was warm and excited.

Good thing too really, because the audience had to struggle through three supports acts before Cherbourg took to the stage.  We caught the dying mintues of the first act who seemed, albeit from a very tiny glimpse, like a forgettable male singer-songwriter with little to set himself apart from the dross of that scene.  He was followed by Larsen B, a four piece outfit of guitar, bass, keyboard and drums who used this very regular format to produce some very regular music.  Their music was not bad, per se, just dull and uninspiring (which, to be honest, is not much better).

Kurran and the Wolfnotes have been getting a fair amount of praise and press recently, and they certainly seemed like they would be interesting as they set up their glockenspiel and harmonium on stage.   However once the music started they didn't seem to quite meet the expectations that been set for them.  Perhaps it was the mixing - said glockenspiel and harmonium were almost undetectable - or perhaps it was the rather whiney emo-boy strains of the band's music, but despite their energy, I was not converted to the Wolfnote way.

Cherbourg played a number of their well-known and -loved songs

Cherbourg finally came on to rapturous applause, and appeared genuinely overwhelmed by the crowd's reaction.  Opening with the brilliant 'Man' from Into the Dark, the band played a good mix of songs from both EPs, as well as a handful of new tracks.  The new songs were, I must say, a bit disappointing.  Swapping violin for guitar, they started to sound a little boring (not just in the instrumentation, but in the music itself) and incorporated a couple of totally anachronistic guitar solos that, well executed as they were, were not what we've come to hope for from Cherbourg.  That said, penultimate song 'Fickle Love' was a solid song that proved that not all is lost for the future of the band.

It was, of course, the well-loved classics (if that word can apply here) that got the audience going.  They played 'Horses' from Last Chapter of Dreaming half way through their set, and - in response to a very demanding lady in the crowd - 'The Mill'.  Leaving, however, the best til last, there was plenty of slightly awkward folk dancing for the rousing 'Never Love Again', which left the crowd baying for more.  The band didn't oblige though, claiming that "encores are for losers".  This was, according to lead singer Andrew Davie, one of the best nights of their lives, and from the way the audience responded to them, you can imagine why, but as much as I enjoyed it, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by some of what I'd heard.  Let's just hope that Cherbourg don't lose what makes them unique.