Live
< Young Knives at The Star, Bethnal Green
words by Sam Walton on 11.06.08
This is not the Young Knives’ finest hour. Billed as a Glastonbury warm-up, this turns out to be nothing more than a public rehearsal, complete with mistakes, low volume and a general lack of vim. It’s not entirely their fault though – they’re playing a small venue where every braying hipster’s voice is audible, and tonight’s crowd is exactly the disinterested type that gives London venues a bad reputation. The band are also undermined by malfunctioning in-ear monitors that frequently throw them out of tune and cause such an obviously clanging mistake in ‘Counters’ that even the band are forced to laugh at the slackness of it all. It’s not all disastrous though – old favourites ‘The Decision’ and ‘Hot Summer’ still impress, and ‘Current of the River’ retains all the impressive menace of its album counterpart. And, thankfully, the gig is seen by so few people (and even fewer who seem to actually care) that it won’t affect a great live band’s existing reputation. Exclusive for loudandquiet.com
