Nothing But Thieves - Gig Review

Their album may be named ' Broken Machine', but on Wednesday the 8th of November, Nothing But Thieves put on a perfect performance.

The band formed in Essex in 2012, and consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Conor Mason, guitarist Joe Langridge-Brown, guitarist and keyboardist Dominic Craik, bassist Philip Blake, and drummer James Price.

At 9 pm, after fantastic support acts such as Darlia and July Talk, the stage went black and the crowd went silent, in awe of what was to come. Flashing lights and smoke poured over and all you could see were silhouettes of the band members arriving on stage. Erupted cheers echoed through the Albert Hall and the first song of their set, 'I'm not Made By Design', started. As the drums kicked in and the vocals got stronger, you knew this was the start of something good.

Throughout the night the crowd was constantly moving, and the setlist was excellently executed by having the right fix of fast and slow songs. Nothing But Thieves amazed by weaving their old songs from their self-titled album released in 2015, and their newest hits from their latest album ‘Broken Machine’ together in a perfect concert melody.

The standout moment of the concert was the performance of 'If I Get High', a single first released in 2015. The mesmerizing voice of Conor was aided by the entire audience who clung to every word. It was obvious that everyone, and not just myself, had goosebumps by the strengths of the lyrics and the vocals. The echoing line of ‘If I get high, will I see you again?’ showed the emotion of fans as you could hear lumps in throats as they belted out the words. That is how you know the performance was amazing as it grabbed the hearts of the audience.

Halfway through the set, a 'Crowd-surfing interlude' was announced as Conor left the stage to give his vocals a rest. This was a fast-paced instrumental break in which the remaining band members riffed out hard tracks on now the red-lit stage. You could feel the bass in your feet, the drum hitting your chest, and the crowd-surfers cheering on their ride.

One special moment was the surprise guest the band brought out, as Conor described himself to be a 'massive fanboy' over this act. So when Everything Everything's Jonathan Higgs came out on the stage, the crowd roared and it was clear to see shocked faces change to smiles. The pair’s voices were so fitting and you could see the nervousness’ of NBT’s lead singer as he would look to his left and see someone he truly admires.

To end the night, the band played Amsterdam, a track of their newest album. The song started slowly so left fans swaying but as the chorus kicked in, no one could keep their feet on the ground as they began to jump in sync to the drum. The blue and gold lighting added to the energetic atmosphere as the lights began to strobe into the crowd.

As they left you could hear people capturing their breath and the faint cheers as people has used their words to sing their hearts out

After the gig, you could see the adrenaline on people's faces as they had danced their socks off and as they left you could hear people capturing their breath and the faint cheers as people has used their words to sing their hearts out.

But luckily not everyone was exhausted as I managed to bump into the amazing Darlia and get a quick message especially for us

Nothing but Thieves have just kicked off their tour and are going to be busy until March next year, after performing over Europe and America.

Until next time boys.