Get Well Soon at The Luminaire, Kilburn High Road, London (28/9/08)- Music Gig and Festival Reviews from ChrisOnline.biz

Text Box: Get Well Soon, The Luminaire, Kilburn, London (28/9/08) Can someone please fetch Get Well Soon a stadium please? Oh and a new roof for the Luminaire while you’re at it... It was just the right setting for a band of such prominence, their first introduction to London- all the cool of a central location, a stone’s throw from Camden- without the teenagers. Konstantin had hinted to the DMG that he was slightly worried about this one, being the first date and with a sick guitarist- he needn’t have worried. There aren’t many bands who sound remarkably better live than on record, but Get Well Soon- compromising of crashing drums, heavy electric guitar, a prominent violin, keyboard, acoustic guitar and even a trumpet- simply tore the place down. Opening with recognizable ‘Prelude’ the crowd cheered, somewhat expecting that one, and everyone’s attention and attendance was transfixed to the centre of the room. Front man Konstantin simply had the room in his hands, briefly stopping for breath before launching into ‘People Magazine Front Cover’ making a crack about capitalism being over. A lot of talk about changing the world in some very politically-motivated numbers- effortlessly switching being vociferous drum beat, haunting violin and pounding guitar. Musically you will hear many a comparison to the likes of Radiohead and Arcade Fire perhaps. For simple musical mind and stadium-worthy performances, it’s more like watching a young Matt Bellamy from Muse with pace and pitch changes maybe not dissimilar to the likes of System of a Down. The musical arrangement is absolutely spot on and meticulously planned as one instrument fades into another and another and another. After playing ‘Listen Those That are Lost, Sing a Song on Christmas Day’- an anthem about a Russian submarine that got lost- though had the sub broadcast that, they would have soon been found, came an unexpected highlight. Some more crowd interaction about beer, Konstantin announced he was going to sing a song about English beer. What followed was a quirky reworking of Underworld’s classic ‘Born Slippy’- now where the original could be described as a comedown song, imagine it being changed to actually reflect the sheer thumping pain of a hangover, mix in Konstantin’s dreamy voice and you have ‘Born Slippy Nuxx’. The band really just immerses you in the music and no-one could take their eyes off it. So unpredictable are the pace changes that even the die-hard fans started cheering and clapping before the end of one folk-driven number only to realize they’d gone a bit too soon. Other notable numbers included ‘If This Hat is Missing’ and ‘Tick Tack Goes’ in what was just under an hour-long set. Konstantin did return for a brief acoustic number-‘Your Teenage FBI’- a vivid story of a song ending with the line- “I guess I just try to save the world”, for a new generation of music fans, he may just do that. 9.5/10 CM