Following their only headline show of 2024 at a sold out Underworld in Camden last month, Call Me Amour took to the stage and captivated the hundreds of early attendee’s. They were supporting Mallory Knox on their tenth anniversary of Asymmetry UK tour.
Call Me Amour @ O2 Institute Birmingham
As David Bowie’s Changes fades down and the lights dim, anticipation gathers. It’s quarter to eight on a Sunday evening in North London and an excerpt from Alan Watt’s The Nature of Consciousness (part 1) is played as the band prepares to take to the stage. The premise being that every night if you could dream any dream of any length of time then eventually you would come to dream about living the life that you are actually living today. So live in and enjoy the present moment. Quite the heavy philosophical start to the evening! But before I can dwell too much on that, the band dive straight into their first song Happy Hell. “We’re all going to die, but will you ever, live?” Harry Radford sings before the breakdown, further stengthening the theme of seizing the day. The long hair of bassist Arran Lomax is bouncing while he gives great additional vocals to the song.
“Are are we going to go out with a fucking bang goddamn?” the singer rallies, trying to get the crowd suitably warmed for the evening. “Live music is one of the last remaining places we can not be on our phones and be connected as humans” as he tries to make the space as intimate as possible. The frontman jumps down onto the floor enters the crowd and conducts proceedings. He says that he judges an audience on their volume and coordination – whether those in attendance can clap, sing and jump in time. He demands everyone in the room put their arms straight up in the air – then put them round the person next to you; “they are now your partner for tonight.” A few giggles and awkward shuffles aside, the crowd are buying into it. They begin Chasing Bugs from their Revolution EP released last year. Radford stays in the crowd for the first verse and the chorus before jumping back onto stage. His enthusiasm results in him nearly breaking the heart neon sign behind them!
Ex-Son of Dork drummer Danny Hills constantly drives the band forward with tremendous fills and punctuates the heavy riffs from Geoff Murphy. Despite being born in Key West, Florida, Ex-Yashin singer Radford along with the rest of the band are based in the Isle of Man. Each member has had their own previous journey with the music business and together, they have alighted on a mature and polished sound, taking inspiration from their previous projects. Their upcoming five-track EP was produced by George Perks who has worked with the likes of Enter Shikari, You me at six, Skindred and this has helped develop and push the band to explore their sound.
Mikey Chapman, singer from Mallary Knox joins the band on stage to perform their latest single Good Day. A song about keeping the people who care about you close, and filtering out any negativity. Sporting a black leather jacket, Chapman’s voice just as powerful and a great match to Radford’s as the pair rally back and forth and coupled with the energetic riffs of guitarist Murphy produce a terrific performance.
“Someone told me recently, ‘Never fear a storm cos one is coming for all of us so learn to dance in the rain.'” Another poignant thought, as Radford introduces Bloom. The song highlights the grave undertones of self discovery, evolution and success. Not comfortable in one place, the frontman leaves the stage again and ends up on a raised platform to the left of the stage looking into the crowd to perform the first verse and chorus.
Back at the front of the stage and he continues to hold court. “This song is about when I nearly lost everything, after taking something in Amsterdam, a missed flight, kicked out of hotel, I nearly lost my best mate, but fuck it, I got this song out of it.” That song is their most streamed song to date, Girl on the Wall, a fast paced moody anthem which closes this whistle-stop 30 minutes of engaging electronic induced rock.
Everything about tonight is about feeling and being. Being present, feeling emotion, being inspired and being an inspiration to others. It’s what the band are striving to do and encouraging the people in the room to do the same. To connect and to get involved. To give no thought of tomorrow when today and this moment is so dear. For those precious few minutes we got to be together and share in something pretty special and that was certainly felt in that Hall in North London.
Having toured last year supporting Against The Current and Mallory Knox this year, Call Me Amour will be embarking on their first headline UK tour in early 2025.
Live review of Call Me Amour @ Islington Assembly Hall, London by Chris Lambert on 20th October 2024. Photos by Nick Allan at O2 Institute Birmingham.
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