Slow Club at Koko

Slow Club are uncharacteristically quiet. Not in their music, which opens enthusiastically with a guest drummer and bass player, but it isn't until the end of the third song when they first interact with the audience. The venues for the folk duo are just getting bigger and bigger, Koko being packed with fans of the group. 'Woah, don't turn that light on', pleads Rebecca as the whole venue audience is lit brightly when she says hello. The sheer number of people staring back make her lost for words. 'I'm speechless. For the first time in my life there are no words.' But there is still music and the pair play another song.

These are mostly new songs being played tonight, Slow Club expanding from their debut album Yeah, So, which Rebecca hopes is okay with us. 'If not, it's tough', she admits, 'you'll just have to deal with it', and we all get treated to another new song. There are shouts of adoration for Rebecca between almost every song, from the same man it seems, and Charles begins to feel put out, wondering where the love for him is. 'I think it's my dad' who is calling out, she replies, but Charles gets some attention too when someone shouts out that they like his beard. Charles says that in a fit of madness he shaved off all his hair in January and has now grown it back, letting his beard grow for a few months now.

'It's mightily impressive', comes a call from the audience.

'It's above-average', Charles squeaks in to the microphone, in a mock-audience manner. Off-microphone, he's told by Rebecca that they are playing too fast, which Charles then relays to us. Rebecca thinks that it will all be over too soon. But they continue to play. The next song is announced by pointing out that they never write set-lists, and they next song they have is apparently 'No Food Way', and we are treated to some songs from the album. Along the way we hear Our Most Brilliant Friends, Trophy Room, and Sorry About the Doom, before the pair unplug to play Wild Blue Milk acoustically at the front of the stage, which is gorgeously intimate for the venue.

The set is over and Slow Club leave the stage, but the ovation and cheers bring them back for an encore. Another new song is announced as Gold Mountain, Charles telling people not to cheer as they haven't heard it yet, although I got a preview when they played it at the Garage earlier in the year. Rebecca also points out that it is on YouTube, and then tells her YouTube story. Noting that she has to stop reading them, Rebecca recalls her favourite comment on the band's video for Trophy Room, calling them a 'pair of fat, spoilt adult-toddlers playing at life'. Charles wonders if the commenter is in the audience, Rebecca pointing out that of course he isn't, 'who'd want to watch two fat adult-toddlers muck around for an hour?'

We are treated to Gold Mountain and then comes Slow Club's final song of the night, another acoustic number and apparently the last time they'll play the song live. Or at least 'until the next time it happens'. Christmas TV gets a huge response, with the audience singing along to the refrain even without Rebecca's prompting, and the evening ends on suitably high note. Slow Club are getting bigger but they remain connected to their fans.

Posted in Audio |
Tags: gig, koko, slow club