Tonight I've swapped neon bright, tattoos and mohawks for washed out pastels, 80's throwback hair dos a la Flock Of Seaguls and a hell of a lot of acid wash jeggings. Tonight in Cardiff's Students' Union, I am standing in a sea of Jack Wills clad indie and awaiting The Temper Trap to take to the stage. As the crowd buzzes with excitement for the impending indie-pop-electro fest about to befall us, a gaggle of girls to my left are mocking the Welsh accent. 'Hmmmm,' I think to myself, 'What would Stacey do?' Well she would probably either stare them all down while her plus 1 watches on in a mixture of bewilderment and fear or giggle and carry on drinking her cider. A tiny part of me wanted to smite her with my oh-so-trendy military boot but I obviously resist and continue to enjoy the build up to one of NME's favourite indie crooners.
Now, to me, an hour between doors and the first act seems a little excessive; hopefully Sarah Blasko is peppy enough to whip up the chatty student types who are filling the Great Hall to its capacity.
A small woman, followed by a quartet of instrument wielding men, assemble on the stage and smoulder in with bluesy rhythms laced around pretty vocals.Tinged with warm summer vibes Sarah Blasko, and her overflowing music box of tricks, is the perfect accompaniment to your beach barbeque and ideal Glastonbury fodder; to quote the gig goer behind me 'She is something to chillax to'. He's not far wrong as she intertwines fragile and echoing vocals with tenderly soft drums and her Mum-dance shapes. Nigh on mouse like in her mannerisms, Sarah Blasko seems so timid, as though she lacks in confidence in some way, which is completely unfounded as despite her drummer appearing to yawn about 3 songs in, she really is a talent. Although she would appeal to all levels of indie fans with her Kate Nash/Laura Marling/Vampire Weekend vibes, she failed to raise the temperature inside the venue. Thus, we were all as cold as before she stepped up to the mic.
The Temper Trap are proving to be worth the long wait and gave us all exactly what we needed in the shape of tension builder Drum Song for starter and Fader for their second course. Cue massive chorus sing alongs, hands in the air and dance parties breaking out, as the crowd went as nuts as is 'cool' to. Choosing tracks from their album Conditions, we are being treated to everything from Down River to ever popular Sweet Disposition whose extended intro has been punctuated so neatly with tamborines in time with firefly lighting patterns.
A delightful mix of haunting vocals and loop-the-looping us up-and-over from dance beats to the downright chilled out as Love Lost induces clusters of dance troops throughout the capacity audience. The Temper Trap's live set has a distinct prog-rock element to it as the emotion on each note speaks more than any lyric could.
The inevitable two-song encore lent to us a brand new song, Battle, which is laden in swaying riffs and rhythms tinged with melancholy. Not a whole world away from the offerings on Conditions but still a wonderful track to hear live.
For me, a super chilled out set with fabulously dynamic lighting throughout that kept me guessing more than the music did; the water drumming is a seemingly apt climax for the Cardiff first timers finale. Even the first row got wet. A decent evening but nothing adventurous. No improvs. No risks. Just plenty of dance-indie-electro-pop fun.
BBPD.
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