The Voom Blooms – Leicester Charlotte 6.9.06.
‘Now that Anna’s my darling we can dance all night’
The Voom Blooms are young and beautiful. They appear around ten of the pm looking every inch the indie-rock band. There are skinny jeans, converse, striped jumpers, ‘come-to-bed-hair’ and neck scarves abound. Enough of physical appearance for now, after all, this is a gig, not a fashion parade ladies and gentlemen.
What is incredibly obvious from the second this band step on stage is that they are totally and utterly in love with what they do. This is especially evident from the huge grin that Thom displays for most of the set. Well, it’s either love for what he does, or there is a secret joke that no-one told the crowd.
Opening with ‘Lovers’, George proves himself a talented live vocalist. Sounding older and more experienced than you’d believe possible for his young years.
The band go on to play ‘Settle Down’ and then new single ‘Anna’ which goes down well with the crowd. People know the words, which is always a good sign. Even more people are dancing, or at least tapping their feet, which is also a good sign. It is hard not to like this band, especially when they produce such catchy, easy to dance to songs as this. You only hear it once and it’s stuck in your head “Now that Anna’s my darling we can dance all night”.
They follow ‘Anna’ with old favourite, or at least my old favourite, ‘Politics and Cigarettes’. It seems that most of the crowd have heard this one before. Toes are tapping, heads are nodding and a well deserved round of applause littered with cheers is delivered when the song is done.
If anyone was sitting down at the start of the set, they certainly aren’t any more.
Guitarist Craig is clearly going to break hearts by the dozen at every show. Tonight is no exception. He appears moody and brooding. His tousled hair, dark eyes, and pouting lips oozing sex appeal, that will no doubt go down well with pretty indie girls in the crowd.
After ‘Politics and Cigarettes’ the band play ‘Models of Soho’, which is the b-side to new single ‘Anna’. This is another catchy song. Comparable, maybe to Arctic Monkeys, in that it is reminiscent of ‘Fake Tales of San Francisco. It seems the George adopts some kind of cockney twang when he sings this song, Which only adds to its appeal.
The set is sharp, well played and incredibly enjoyable. The band play well, and are obviously talented, this is not to say that they are perfect. They will get better, they’re still young, and they will grow, and change and, pardon the pun, bloom. Ahem. Still, any recording you may have heard does not do justice to the bands live performance. At all. These are a band that if you like what you has heard on CD, or myspace, or whatever, then you need to get your arse, in its lovely low-slung jeans, to a gig. Quick smart.
(c) Laura Smith 2006
