Lower Than Atlantis Live At The Tunbridge Wells Forum
Talk about hard work paying off. Lower Than Atlantis first came into consciousness back in 2010 as the bruised, unremittingly pissed-off yet wonderfully and sombrely melodic force behind debut album Far Q, they were something fresh and hungry and crucially didn't sound like anything else around. Two and a half years later the band are not only on the cusp of releasing their third album but have already progressed hugely in sound and steadily built up a dedicated mass appeal that's bleeding quickly into the mainstream, all on the back of never resting on their laurels, bringing back the once-lost dedication of consistent releases, and most importantly waves and waves of undeniably brilliant songs. Tonight, the celebratory opening of a newly and excellently refurbished Tunbridge Wells Forum, is a clear depiction of all this success, and it's only the start.
You can almost touch the heroes' welcome waiting to greet the boys from Watford though and from the moment they walk on stage with the euphoric Love Someone Else the whole place goes a billion shades of mental until they walk off again. There's literally no moment's respite save for wit-master extraordinare frontman Mike Duce's hilarious banter, featuring his unusual analysis of the heat of the venue, funny "canisters", and best of all being chug-chanted by the crowd to down a Gin and Tonic only for Duce to utter wryly "bit low on the tonic there mate" after doing so, he does this to booming cheers before roaring into a crushing If The World Was To End without missing a note. As touched on before, brilliant showmanship aside, what truly shines tonight are the songs, not only are the band perfectly tight, Eddy Thrower's work on the drum kit being particularly impressive, but their ability to write songs led by Duce is often flooring. Keeping the new songs to a minimum it feels like we're having a killer retrospective with a few glimpses into the bright future, as a result the furious brutally honest assault of Far Q comes together with the beautiful sing-a-long of the much loved Another Sad Song seamlessly before the reaction to closer Deadliest Catch is so explosive and exuberant that there's no way that anyone could deny that this is a band really going places.
Tonight felt like a victory for good music and no band deserves it more than LTA do, from the album's release on October 1st onwards, the musical world is going to be their oyster and so it should.