For a band that came to headlines after a remark that You Me At Six and The Vaccines were terrible, it’s often a cause for concern that Blood Red Shoes’ public outburst may come back to haunt them.
However, judging by this performance, they shouldn’t be anticipating any criticism from me. Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter are the Brighton duo that are venturing to new heights in their careers, as a UK headline performance at Shepherd’s Bush Empire displayed.
With fans of new and old, their music has graciously became a welcomed party to any playlist, as their sound continues to digress from genre to genre and allowing a more versatile approach to this “rock” label that’s so stereotypical flustered onto any British band with a guitar.
What people fail to notice, which becomes evidently clear during a BRS live performance, is the intricacy and tightness that the duo offers during each track. With Ansell and Carter’s vocals variations, their clean-cut harmonies seem to be electrified by the energy that is portrayed.
The welcomed addition of Pulled Apart By Horses’ guitarist James Brown, not the iconic funk musician, for ‘Red River’ added to the velocity and ferocity that BRS are sometimes criticised for not showing on their studio albums – a little hard when there’s just two of you.
Their intensity continued to be displayed when Wallace Vanborn’s member Ian Clement, also, helped them entertain the max-capacity venue that were all so happily singing along or heckling Ansell like a local pub gig.
That’s the thing with a BRS show; you are not sat there watching two smug musicians play their 1 and a half hour set, but enticed into crowd participation, whether that be through a cosy chat with the members, chanting to each record or just clapping your hands on the 3rd row. BRS offer an entertainment experience that is nicely sugar coated by an impressive lightshow too.
With 3 albums down, a recent main stage performance at Leeds & Reading Festival, a new EP capturing the hearts of many and a forthcoming split-cover release with Pulled Apart By Horses; it’s safe to say that BRS will be continuing their rise as one of the greatest modern Brit-rock acts of this generation.