Miike Snow- Leeds Uni (21/10/09)
Adam Hutcheson
I’d just dragged one of the cheapest 3 pint rounds I can afford to remember from the bar and to my left there’s a tall, long haired, beardy man having his picture taken with some goth looking ‘alternative’ girls. Surrounded by well put together pretty boys and a ginger nutter with a moustache it quickly becomes apparent that they could be in some sort of band. We leave them to it and grab pool table to pass some time. The group seem to follow a short guy with a laptop to a nearby table, some have pints; the ginger nutter looks like he has red wine. (red wine in a student bar- he IS a nutter) Playing pool with 3 people is tricky so i’m stood waiting for their game to finish and the table between ours and the band becomes free. Being northern I never like to waste a chance for a game of pool so I approach the group, making sure I have a cue in my hand and a quid and pointing towards the table to ensure my social gesture is not lost in translation. Every single member of Miike Snow individually declines. I suddenly feel jealous of that alt girl. It wasn’t like I was asking to come on stage and perform with them using my cue as an instrument.
This sequence solidifies my feelings on the bus route approach to this gig; that Miike Snow has something to prove. They’re stand out track ‘Animals’ has honestly been one of my favourite lyrical songs of the past few years. It’s brilliant, cutting, and simple. But can they build on this, is this they’re peak? I’m aware the album was being well received but tonight was about them doing it for me live. And I’m sure that’s what was going through their heads as they tucked into the sausage mash and beans back in Old Bar at Leeds Uni.
A short while later, after a horrible support act with a lead singer who was eyeing me up, we felt privileged to spot them making their way through the dispersed ‘crowd’ in the venue. They emerged on stage wearing plain white, chiselled face masks banging out ‘Burial’. The sound was instant and engaging. They looked serious and ready to play. The cold crowd finally got a bit agitated. The tipping point was part way through the first track they simultaneously removed the masks; the first cheer erupted from in front of them. It was then that I felt like these boys had some purpose. Every sound they were making seemed like it had a real reason to be made. There was nothing happening on that stage that hadn’t been rehearsed and considered. It was satisfying to see.
The lead singer looked like King Leonidis with long hair. He had a kind of tall, lingering presence that made you believe in what he was saying. We, the audience, felt like the small amount of people, rebelling in a small space against the kind of industry grown and mass nurtured garbage known as ‘small bands’ like the opening act.
The stage barely fit the technical array of instruments and stuff that even my more musical mate is still unravelling the mysteries of today. However is was as big as it needed to be; the band were efficient and neat with their space and managed to swap instruments and swing various drumsticks around adding energy to the sound much like Friendly Fires would.
They managed to drag an ample amount of amplified atmosphere out of a venue that to be honest didn’t really deserve them. I suppose that’s how these things develop but it makes me glad I got to see them now for about £8 rather than what they could be doing in 6 months. They claimed their single back from endless amounts of online remixes; ‘Animal’ rocked the house and even though I saw some people leave after they played it mid set (like shitty football supporters) the majority of people seemed to be thankful they Miike Snow proved to be more than the sum of their remixes. I was convinced; almost glad they shunned my attempts to distract them with a thrashing at pool. They arrived on stage as a brand, a name, a screen identity. They left the stage one at a time. Stating that there’s much more to Miike snow than a name; there’s individual talent, collective spirit and long, sweeping, atmospheric background to some of the most cutting, soulful, and honest lyrically driven songs you can hear today.
