Blackbud

Ideally this would be a relaxing summer day with the ambient sound of Wiltshire’s Blackbud enveloping a Glastonbury tent. However it’s a cold evening in the city and as 'that fine rain that soaks you through' falls outside, a small crowd congregate in the dim student pit of the University of London, showing interest but still eager to talk amongst themselves.
Taking to a darkened stage the band make a subtle entrance and as they gently ease everyone in, the lights gradually shine implying there’s perhaps not going to be an obvious 'wow’ factor to, at the very least, silence the chatterboxes. But as opening number 'Steal Away’ steadily creeps in, it's not long before the boyish three-piece are achieving some real attention from the audience they deem "a bit more clued-up" than their predecessors.
And so the gorgeous, organic essence of Blackbud’s indie-rock sound seeps through their set with seductive elegance - singles 'Barefoot Dancing' and 'Forever' breed glorious escapism and album track 'Market Streets' is pure nectar. However, embellishing the perverse elements of their repertoire, the band momentarily play their Zeppelin-inspired, rock-encrusted card and it’s not a bearable deviation.
During '1:5:8', what begins as an abrupt calamity of drumming segues into the kind of misplaced 'solo' akin to Garth’s big moment in 'Wayne’s World'! Beaming from behind his kit it’s obvious Sam Nadel 'likes to play' as well and, despite encouragement from his comrades and appreciative applause, it’s verging on a 'gimmick’ gone wrong. And, bassist Adam Newton’s rock n' roll indulgence clashing with guitar-playing frontman Joe Taylor's calm is slightly distracting from what is clearly this band’s beautiful forte - cool ripples of melody not crashing waves of rock.
The desired mood of the gig fails to peak but Taylor’s sometimes haunting, sometimes enchanting vocal drifts into Thom Yorke territory at times - a sign his band are snapping at the heels of Radiohead.
Following a fairly tame set of mixed emotions, no amount of whistling, clapping and cheering coaxes an encore (yes, the crowd were positively noisy, too) which seems to suggest Blackbud obviously have a lot more to give.