A couple of weeks ago, White Lies played here at the Union as part of their UK tour; a spectacular gig that cemented the band’s latest music in fans’ hearts with the same adoration as their previous albums.
As I walked into Stylus, The Ramona Flowers were just beginning their set as support act, and they couldn’t have done a better job in pre-empting the similarly moody alt-rock music of White Lies, as well as taking the opportunity to show off some of their latest tracks. Indeed, a particular highlight of the set was ‘Skies Turn Gold’. I arrived at the gig unaware as to who was going to be the support act, yet The Ramona Flowers didn’t disappoint and were an ideal band to fill this mystery slot. In between their set and White Lies, an incredible amount of people seemed to join the crowd – the venue was the busiest I’ve seen it this entire semester – and the atmosphere was buzzing before the London trio even set foot on stage.
When they finally appeared, they kicked off with possibly the most popular track from their latest album Friends: ‘Take It Out On Me’, its colourful melodies underscoring their fresh take on their trademark dark-edged indie rock. Whether you were familiar to their music or not, the energy of their tracks shone through, and new tracks ‘Big TV’ and ‘Friends’ exemplified their radiant style.
They encompassed songs from all four albums within their set, shifting between older, more melancholic tunes and newer, more vibrant ones. The set included classics from ‘There Goes Our Love Again’, to ‘Price of Love, ‘To Lose My Life’, and their favourite from their new album, ‘Is My Love Enough’.
They took some time out to tell us they’d never played at a university before, asking for someone to hold a house party, before continuing and playing ‘Getting Even’ with some really cool glitch-effect lighting, and ‘Farewell to the Fairground’, which resulted in the crowd shouting “keep on running, there’s no place like home” back at them. They finished on “Unfinished Business”, a crowd sing-a-long from the first note.
A blissful celebration of White Lies’ music from beginning to end.
Hollie Griss
(Image: Assest5 Radio)