Poliça clearly picked their support act FOG with careful consideration, knowing full well his synth beats and eerie echoing keyboard chords would fill the room with excitement. After an intense few songs, he quickly descended into an array of mellow, euphonious melodies with soft lyrics that evoked a calm, sombre tone. By the end of the set, the audience were left feeling buzzed yet melancholic at the same time, anticipating the arrival of Poliça.
In the half an hour wait between FOG’s set and Poliça’s arrival on stage, the room filled up considerably quickly, leaving little space for movement. As they played their third song ‘Lime Habit’, arguably the most popular track from new album United Crushers, it became apparent that the audience were in for a treat. Lighting up the stage with a lime green light that illuminated the colours of their album artwork in the backdrop, the visuals heightened the sensory experience considerably.
Channy’s angelic vocals accompanied with Chris Bierden’s thumping bass created a mismatch of softness and harsh intensity. It’s rare that a band has two drummers and this feature is definitely an advantage to Poliça at live shows. There’s an odd satisfaction that comes from watching Drew Christopherson and Ben Ivascu play in unison together, with no drummer even slightly lagging in the perfect unison they created.
Tracks from their new album featured heavily throughout the set, and whilst the crowd were obviously enjoying the well known songs, they listened patiently and intently to the more unfamiliar tracks. ‘Dark Star’ and ‘Play Your Cards Right’ came in the middle of the set, demonstrating that they perhaps want to move on from these classics and promote their new album.
Channy added a personal touch to the set by announcing that her son will turn one years old in a week’s time. The fact she sacrifices time away from her baby boy demonstrates her sheer devotion to her touring, and with a set lasting an hour and a half long, it would be wrong to complain that Poliça don’t give back to their fans.
Mairead Nolan
Image: When The Gramophone Rings