There are some bands that don’t require a magnanimous back catalogue of albums, an expensive live stage set and excessive, repetitive mainstream exposure to prove their worth, White Lies definitely fit into this category. With only a debut CD under their belt and a relatively low key profile in Australia, it was questionable of what to anticipate in a live environment, which was to be expected. To say they pleasantly surprised, would be an understatement of paramount proportion.They entered the stage to a sombre atmosphere and subdued lighting, a reflection of their music and musical style, often described as a form of dark and moody 80’s tones, much akin to The Smiths and Echo and The Bunnymen.
White Lies actually sound better live than they do on their debut CD, ‘To Lose My Life’, Harry McVeigh’s voice is sublime and powerful, the comparisons to Ian Curtis ( Joy Division ) and Paul Banks ( Interpol ) have been numerous and well justified but Harry does hold his own, if anything his vocal range is superior to the aforementioned two. If Harry is the voice of the band then the rhythm section of Charles Cave, bass, and Jack Lawrence-Brown, drums, are its foundation , combining in an almost effortless flow of bass line twang and rhythmic beat keeping them all in unison.
The setlist primarily consisted of songs from their only CD but this meant that the crowd was well versed with the lyrics which only added to the atmosphere. This however did not detract one bit from the performance that these Londoners gave on the night.
The live version of "Fifty On Our Foreheads” was given a fantastic extended run, “The Price Of Love” showcased the versatility and depth of Harry’s vocal range, “To Lose My Life” injected by Charles’ driving bass forged a gloomy, yet compelling and captivating semblance of dark sound. They also played “Taxidermy” a B side single from “To Lose My Life”, which would have been a song foreign to all but the die hard fans. The surprise of the night, for me anyway, was the terrific version, Portishead’s; song “The Rip”, which would have done the trip hop pioneers proud.
Of course, the night would not have been complete without the song that started it all, “Death”, which fittingly ended their set, you would think that they must have grown tired of playing this signature song but they showed no sign of it. As expected the crowd went crazy and the band obliged their exuberance by delivering it with a hard edge and sullen passion, that culminated with Jack standing over his drums extracting every last beat out of the infectious song.
Unfortunately my only complaint was that there was no encore, the night pretty much ended after “Death” was played, kind of fitting for the so called “dark and gloomy” trio, who are primed and screaming out to be heard in a stadium/arena environment.
Quite a solid and brilliant performance from a bunch of guys just in their early 20’s, the question is what will their sophomore offering be, only time will tell but for now the future of alternative rock is in good hands… “Love the feeling when we lift off……..”
