Blue Americans: Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds — Review
Belfast’s Blue Americans hit Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, and Alice was there to review the night. Here’s what she had to say about the evening.
Blue Americans are currently on a UK-wide tour with Fatherson, starting in their hometown of Belfast and ending in the hometown of Fatherson: Glasgow. It’s fair to say, then, that this tour might well feel like a homecoming for Fatherson, but the first few steps into the great, wild world of touring for Blue Americans.
The gig took place in a venue that could only be described as ‘trendy’. The basement of Hyde Park Book Club is definitely nothing much more exciting than that: a basement. Electricals were duct-taped to the walls, a few ceiling panels appeared to have gone missing, and the toilets were constructed from chipboard. Despite this, though, the venue was set apart from the run-of-the-mill, O2 Academy-type setup that we all know and love, and it felt as though there was the potential to see something that hadn’t been done before. That was pretty exciting.
The gig was sold out, but upon entering the room the sight was one that, as a gig-goer, filled me with second-hand dread for the performance ahead — although the room was by no means empty, the crowd was loose, and most people were gravitating towards their nearest wall. Blue Americans, however, entered onto the stage with a quiet confidence that gave me hope for what was to come. As their performance began, and the sounds of synth and smooth vocals drifted up the stairs to the bar, the room began to fill up.
As the band moved into their second song, ‘Shoon’, the energy was beginning to pick up, while the basement warmed up, and people started moving to the music. By this point, my earlier nerves for the band were long gone, and I settled into enjoying the music along with everyone else in the crowd.
Soon, they launched straight into ‘Free Champagne’, arguably the group’s most famous song, which they delivered with a well-practiced air. The balance of synth and piano was perfect and the growing crowd were won over by the band’s catchy vocals and smooth melodies. Frontman Kris Platt even took the opportunity to come into the crowd and finished the song there, in the middle of the floor, facing the stage.
‘Apparition’ was a truly stand-out moment in the set for me, and Platt’s vocals really shone as all the other parts of the band came together, coherently, to make something pretty special. As Daniel Morgan Ball described in our earlier interview, it certainly created something “sonically tasty”.
The set ended with Platt running through the crowd to the back, where the merch stand was, while the music faded out and the rest of the band began to pack away. As the lights came up, onto the crowd, I was left feeling impressed. If this two-piece band from Belfast, with only seven songs released, can already put on such a good show, then given some time to perfect their performance and pump out some more songs, I’m sure there’s something special for them on the horizon.
For more information about Blue Americans, and if you’d like to find any of their future tour dates, check out their Facebook page. To listen to their music, click the link below.
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