Ben Howard, Machine Translations @ Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne (01/06/2015)
It was a very wintery night as my friends and I walked from Richmond to the Margaret Court Arena to hear Ben Howard’s replacement show, after he cancelled parts of his tour earlier in the year.
We expected a beautiful old building like the forum, so we were very surprised when some tennis fans told us it was nestled between Rod Laver. Machine Translations kicked (or had first serve, in tennis terms) with some long Death Cab for Cutie melancholy style instrumentals, drowny vocals and multiple tennis puns. Frontman Greg James Walker told the audience that they had only got the call up to play just days before, to the almost sold out stadium venue. |
The music was in constant flux, from slow and dreamy, to fast paced dramatic build ups and eerie instrumentals. The changes of pace kept the music interesting, just in the same way someone who is expressive with their voice is more interesting than someone who is a monotone.
The keyboardist gave me a flashback to to the tennis ball guy from Kaiser Chiefs - Modern Way film clip, while the tennis puns and dad jokes were a little sad, but I really enjoyed them as an opening band.
All wearing black, Ben Howard and his band all came onto the stage and went straight into playing music. A big deep synth led into Conrad. His guitar skills became apparent quicky, as he started pressing the frets quickly from the top of the guitar neck.
The emotion in his voice was emphasised in the third song, Time is Dancing. Lights came out of the stage and made turtle-like patterns on the roof of the stadium.
I really enjoyed the cello and the mood it added to the music, however the best part of the night for me was when he played The Fear slowed down and solo.
Although I really enjoy him as a recording artist, I found the performance to be very underwhelming. There was no interaction with the fans, or anything added from seeing him in a live performance. It almost seemed like he lacked interest. The bass in the venue also screwed up a couple of times which took away from the performance.
I was also a little disappointed that some great songs from his first album such as Old Pine, Only Love and Keep Your Head Up didn’t feature. My friends and I had a debate about whether a band should play from start to finish without talking to the crowd, you know, he is pretty shy. Despite shyness, I think that the live performance is one of the only times fans can interact with the band, so it was sad that there was no interaction for me. It felt very one way.
Saying that, the emotion he puts into the music would really fit perfectly in a small intimate venue, especially if he was playing solo and I think is one of the best acoustic artists recording today.
Ryan Hyde
The keyboardist gave me a flashback to to the tennis ball guy from Kaiser Chiefs - Modern Way film clip, while the tennis puns and dad jokes were a little sad, but I really enjoyed them as an opening band.
All wearing black, Ben Howard and his band all came onto the stage and went straight into playing music. A big deep synth led into Conrad. His guitar skills became apparent quicky, as he started pressing the frets quickly from the top of the guitar neck.
The emotion in his voice was emphasised in the third song, Time is Dancing. Lights came out of the stage and made turtle-like patterns on the roof of the stadium.
I really enjoyed the cello and the mood it added to the music, however the best part of the night for me was when he played The Fear slowed down and solo.
Although I really enjoy him as a recording artist, I found the performance to be very underwhelming. There was no interaction with the fans, or anything added from seeing him in a live performance. It almost seemed like he lacked interest. The bass in the venue also screwed up a couple of times which took away from the performance.
I was also a little disappointed that some great songs from his first album such as Old Pine, Only Love and Keep Your Head Up didn’t feature. My friends and I had a debate about whether a band should play from start to finish without talking to the crowd, you know, he is pretty shy. Despite shyness, I think that the live performance is one of the only times fans can interact with the band, so it was sad that there was no interaction for me. It felt very one way.
Saying that, the emotion he puts into the music would really fit perfectly in a small intimate venue, especially if he was playing solo and I think is one of the best acoustic artists recording today.
Ryan Hyde