NME Tour 2010 @ Bristol 02 Academy

The 2010 NME Tour provided one of my musical highlights of 2010 with an extremely strong line-up. Having already seen The Maccabees twice, this gig was more about the new acts breaking through in 2009/10 and Bombay Bicycle Club, The Big Pink and The Drums are possibly some of the best new bands to surface recently. The bands which have opened previous NME tours have often gone on to big things, some of the previous openers have been: Florence and The Machine, The Ting Tings, Kaiser Chiefs, and Coldplay.

The Drums took the opening slot for 2010 because of the hype (mostly from NME themselves) that surrounds their Beach Boys/Cure sound, and the hype is perfectly just if this performance was anything to go by. With songs such as ‘Let’s Go Surfing’, ‘I Felt So Stupid’ and the brilliant ‘Best Friend’ the four boys from New York are certain to take 2010 by storm with their energetic live performances. Frontman Jonathan Pierce appears so comfortable and confident on stage with some quirky dancing to accompany his Robert Smith-esque vocals.


The second act to take the stage were London’s The Big Pink, fresh from supporting Muse at the end of last year. After the success of their 2009 debut album, A Brief History of Love, it was intriguing to see them translate their heavily layered songs into a live performance. The Big Pink certainly provided something a bit different to the line-up with their fuzzy, epic guitars filling the relatively small O2 Bristol Academy. Yet, whilst they provided a break from the other three similar sounding bands, The Big Pink set feels short of quality songs. Whilst ‘Velvet’ and ‘Love In Vain’ are both excellent, the undisputed highlight of the set was closer ‘Dominos’ which raised the roof.

Bombay Bicycle Club were next to take the stage and provided arguably the best set of the night. With their debut album, I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, considered by many to be one of the best of 2009, I was anxious to see the four boys from London live and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Beginning the set with the brilliant instrumental, ‘Emergency Contraception Blues’, the band moved swiftly on to ‘Dust On The Ground’ with the haunting voice of Bombay’s lead singer, Jack Steadman, dominating the performance.

Other highlights from what was an excellent set were ‘Magnet’ and the most well known Bombay Bicycle Club song, ‘Always Like This’, with its rising chorus “I’m not home / I’m not home / I’m not ho-ome” being sung in unison by the entire audience. The band finished with my personal favourite ‘What If’ to end what was a thoroughly entertaining set, which cements the reputation of Bombay Bicycle Club as one of the best up and coming bands around.

It was then left to The Maccabees to close another venue on the NME Tour schedule, and once again they didn’t disappoint. Opening with ‘William Powers’ the band ripped through their set at scintillating pace, covering songs from their recent second album, Wall Of Arms, as well as their debut. However, the band really came into their element during the second half of the set, starting with their first ever single ‘X-Ray’ which was quickly followed by fan favourites ‘Can You Give It’, ‘No Kind Words’ and ‘First Love’. Fittingly included in the set (considering it was Valentines day) was the beautiful ‘Toothpaste Kisses’ which made an appearance towards the end of the set. The band then returned for an encore consisting of ‘Bag of Bones’, and the big, uplifting ‘Love You Better’ to close off what was a fantastic gig. The Maccabees have worked hard for their position in the music industry, and they thoroughly deserved their place at the top of a very strong bill.