The summer of constant downpour is mercifully reprieved for tonight; although the beautiful venue is shrouded in apocalyptic cloud and my raincoat is at the ready.
Support comes from Norweigan electronic songstress Susanne Sundfør who is performing with a male associate. The two of them are surrounded by an impressive-looking fortress of equipment. The sounds emanating from their sound station is a little less exciting than the technology would suggest, and much of the set felt a little dispassionate and ‘samey’.
No curbing of the enthusiasm for M83 though, at least not from me and my merry crew. From the space-landing grandeur of ‘ Intro’ (where one of Anthony Gonzales’ band arrives on stage bedecked in a far-out helmut and cosmic be- caped regalia) we are swept along. They were my Primavera highlight so I’m expecting a lot from this gig.
Maybe it’s the gloomy weather that is getting everyone down, or the fact it’s a Monday night but tonight’s crowd seem a little muted for a sell-out gig, particularly during the first half of the gig. This doesn’t seem to phase M83 though, the sound is huge and they appear to be having a blast. It’s feast for the senses , the whole place is lit up with magical colours and the myriad of instruments and electronic kit are jacked up to beyond eleven . They bring a mixture of their Saturdays = Youth dreamy Shoegaze and the more recent Synth heavy Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming to tonight’s set.
‘We Own The Sky’ is euphoric: the album version feels quite delicate in comparison, this feels heavier but still dreamy and Morgan Kibby’s sound incredible bouncing off these grand walls and into the night sky, which they definitely seem to be owning right now.
‘Teen Angst’ is cinematic as vocals overlaps and wash over us – it feels like a moment from a Sofia Copolla film.
There are some distinctly 80s stadium shapes being thrown during ‘Reunion’, appropriate given its heavy nods to Simple Minds.
Dropping what must now be their anthem ‘Midnight City’ late in the set garners an appropriately animated response from the crowd. The flashing lights and lairy Balearic sax seem to be doing a number on the chin strokers who have morphed into head nodders .
Slow number ‘Wait’, I am reliably informed is a Gossip Girl favourite, and is all kinds of lovely under the inky dusk.
Gonzalez et al don’t say much onstage, save for quipping about our ‘beautiful’ weather, but he looks genuinely chuffed to be playing here – and who wouldn’t be?
They wrap up with an epic rendition of ‘Coleurs’ which is massive and we are moved to shout encouraging calls for ‘More Cowbell’ – it seems to be paying off. From here on in, if I hear a song I don’t like when I’m out, it’s fine: I’ll simply dance to this in my head.
Soon M83 will be getting too big to play here, but I’d love to see a return visit. For now I’m off into the cloudy night, lost in electric dreams.