White Lies
A loud cheer went up as four young men, dressed entirely in black, made their way onto the stage in front of the sell out audience; the white spotlights above them throwing highlights and casting shadows.
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White Lies have a substantial following for a band that officially has been around for less than 2 years (although have been going for some time under different names) and who already have Glastonbury, Leeds, Reading and the Isle of Wight Festival under their belts this year.
The new wave sound of the early to mid 80's appears to be making a reoccurrence. Their clean, clear sound carries more than a hint of Echo and the Bunnymen and Depeche mode, but they look younger than their mature sound suggests. Despite the passion Harry McVeigh puts into his singing, they have a slightly subdued presence on stage which seems in contrast to some of their more upbeat songs, but it works well. The crowd on the other hand more than made up for it with their enthusiasm and excitement; the entire dance floor of the academy was jumping and singing along, especially to the livelier 'To Lose My Life' and 'Unfinished Business'. The rest of the To Lose My Life album was played through with the occasional pre White Lies song interleaved, before eventually going out to cheers and name chanting.
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After a brief interlude, the first encore was a tribute to Talking Heads (whom they cite as a major influence), with a cover of their 1979 song, 'Heaven', followed by ‘From the Stars’ and finally the building lifting a euphoric notch and ending on a high, to “Death”.
For someone who hadn’t really heard of White Lies until a few weeks previous, I was highly impressed and had a really good time. An excellent album and equally excellent live performance.
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 7 available.