Hot Hot Heat with support from The Departure ( 28/04/05) - Live Review

Ironically, the first electro tingedoffering by Northampton's The Departure,of the elk that has earned The Bravery and long before them; Duran Duran plaudits from the people that matter, was entitled ‘Be My Enemy’. This number, withprovocative vocals provided by David Jones started off a friendly 30 minutes of endearing indie/funk. The groove friendly and humble ‘I’m Only Human’ and emotive latest single ‘Lump In My Throat’, helped to gee matters up for the provocative and catchy finale provided via ‘Dirty Words’. The rousing reception received The Departure received at the end of their slot, proved that the UK has an act to stand between The Bravery and The Killers and the petty feud they have to show that this sort of music is about havingfun and not massaging egos.

New song ‘Ladies And Gentleman’ taken from their ‘Elevator’ albumaptly demonstrated that theguys have lost none of their zest and have built upon their sound. The rasping keyboard fired punk spirited ‘Get In Or Get Out’ saw the first vibrations emanating from the infamously moving floor at this rustic venue. The free-for-all dancing and leaping to main set ender; ‘Bandages’ protected the band’s egos, as they know that with numbers like this to fall back in you cannot fail to pull things off in a live setting. Stand out new number ‘Running Out Of Time’, a vibrant and catchy pop number almost in the vein of Blur in their heyday and the devilishly paranoid and catchy indie/punk number; ‘Oh, Goddammit’ made for a frenetic ending, but there was an uneven feel to headline act tonight.

http://www.hothotheat.com

David Adair