Heart of Noise

Do you ever get when you go to a gig of a band that you really like, but there’s so much going on in your own head that it’s impossible to focus? Well sadly that happened with Local Natives, a band who I’m really fond of. I loved their album, Gorilla Manor, when it first came out around this time last year, and even though I feel like it has dated quite a lot since, I have a little soft spot for these west-coast crooners.

Downing a couple of cans of Red Stripe before we went in probably didn’t help either… but I’d just had some bad news and found it really difficult to be lulled away by their lilting harmonies and earnest energy. Just one of those things.

Having said that, they really did try. The band blasted energy into most of the songs from their album and upped the tempo whenever they could.

I wasn’t that fussed on the HMV forum after seeing The Big Pink, but Local Natives had much more of a presence, coming to the front of the stage and giving the punters what they wanted. The atmosphere was fused with anticipation and the band fed off it, coming on for an encore with their arms around each other’s shoulders.

The audience seemed to love it. The friends I was with loved it. And just this once, I think it’s fair to take their opinion over mine.