We Were Promised Jetpacks, supported by the mesmerizing Fatherson, see out their European tour in style, with a sold out show at The Lexington.
In The Lexington, up an incredibly steep flight of stairs crammed full of gig posters is the hidden intimate venue. First of all the bar is slightly miss leading, having a bright neon ‘Bluemoon’ sign and then not having any said beverage, with the reply of “… it’s just a cool sign.”
Fatherson were the support on the night but could easily have headlined themselves. They open their set on album title track ‘Am Island’ from their debut ‘I Am An Island’. Ross Leighton appears on stage, solo for most of the track drenched in reverb and pouring every part of his soul into the room, as the sound builds over the lyrics “… I am an island”. As it reaches the songs peak the rest of the band stroll on stage and tear into the instruments.
Fatherson do songs full to bursting with honesty, hope and truth, lines like “I am so afraid of this, I am so afraid… of this” taken from ‘Mine For Me’ shows this beautifully. They Finish on ‘James’ as the one true fan helps Leighton sing the last haunting lines of “Go on home, sober up, take the weight of your feet and just chill”, definitely one to look out for.
We Were Promised Jetpacks arrive on stage bang on 9:30, walking on to a thick synth drone. Their set was a mixture of old and new, quickly pulling indie classic ‘Quiet Little Voices’ out of the bag, turning the very hungry looking crowd into a crazed mob.
You could feel the floor flex as the throng bounced along to that rampant guitar line. We Were Promised Jetpacks deliver a much bigger, deeper, more mature sound than was expected live. The band hammer through their set, mixing it up between all three of their albums, unleashing new tracks including ‘Night Terror’, ‘I Kept It Composed’ and ‘Disconnecting’, which is a slow burning track starting life with eerie piano, giving way to a truly wonderful ending on record, but live it doesn’t really work. The sound becomes messy and it all morphs into some kind of audio-sludge. “That was some of our new stuff, I hope you liked it” goes Thompson, the crowd clap politely but are clearly confused. A very brief awkward moment happens but is saved by the shout of “I think I died this time!”, (Opening lines to Ships With Holes Will Sink – … Jetpacks .Ed), creating another indie riot within The Lexington. Watching the entire room including the band pogo in perfect symmetry is a true joy to see!
“This is a new song and we like playing it. This is ‘Keep It Composed’”, a strange track that shows … Jetpacks have grown up. The sounds of big bass, intricate guitars and pounding drums quickly fill the room. They fast launch into ‘It’s Thunder And It’s Lightning’, cue the biggest sing along of the night as the crowd goes insane. Many think this is the last track of the night and promptly leave but miss the true encore of ‘Short Bursts‘, the crowd love it and use the newly free space to lose it for the final time.
In Jetpacks’ own words “If I was a writer, I would write my own opinions”, so with that in mind, sorry your new stuff doesn’t quite cut it live I’m afraid.