As part of their #BanditAsia tour, British four-piece band Clean Bandit took to the stage at The Coliseum at Hard Rock Hotel on 25 November 2015. Performing their unique mix of classic and electro-pop music, the Bandits brought upbeat stage presence and their compelling vocals to boot for their fans.
The band belted out tunes from their debut studio album, “New Eyes” (which peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums chart). With familiar hits such as “Extraordinary“, “Real Love” and the massive pop earworm “Rather Be“, the audience (and our) hearts were captured as they bounced along.
After a moderate delay, the sudden familiar violin riffs from “A+E“’ had us screaming from the crowd, eagerly awaiting the group to grace the stage. Not long after, Jack and Luke Patterson walked confidently to take their places behind the keyboard and drums respectively, while Grace Chatto strutted to stage front and posed with her cello. It’s a crying shame that Neil Amin-Smith wasn’t present that evening due to an unfortunate illness (rest up, Neil!).
Clean Bandit’s touring vocalists, Florence Rawlings and Elisabeth Troy, too bounded onto the stage. Troy was quick to get the crowd singing along with “Real Love“, and the crowd promptly went wild with the first line of lyrics. With frequent harmonising, Troy and Chatto delighted the audience during the chorus.
Poised and assured, Troy and Chatto got the crowd bopping along to “Cologne“, a deep-house flavoured track and “Stronger“, a motivational dance anthem. The classic ‘point-the-mic-to-the-crowd’ technique made everyone’s voices soar as one, much to the (obvious) delight of those on stage.
As the set moved to dancehall and reggae-flavoured “A+E” and “Come Over“, the energy was kept sky-high as the ecstatic crowd jammed along to Jamaican-tinged riffs with Chatto captivating the crowd with sultry yet classy moves.
Rawlings took centre stage with “Up Again“, one of the album’s slower songs. As her bold voice elicited a standstill in the first few verses, the drums and bass soon picked up (à la Rudimental) as the song escalated and not long after, everyone was back dancing in time for “Extraordinary” – another familiar hit.
The fast-paced “Heart on Fire” seemed to be a bit too much to the audience with its blitzy tempo, but a transition to “Mozart’s House“, an ethereal classical-pop remix, had fans cheering while Troy worked her magic with the audience. When Jack Patterson showcased his vocal prowess on “Dust Clears“, it seemed like it was going to be a never-ending night of great sounds… until their abrupt departure.
After numerous chants from the disappointed audience, the band quickly took their places once again, playing a cover of Robin S.’s “Show Me Love“, a smooth sing-along song from the 90s.
The first concert of Clean Bandit’s #BanditAsia tour culminated with hundreds of Singaporeans belting their hearts out to their smash hit chart-topper, “Rather Be“.
With only one album to their name, Clean Bandit still has a long way to go down the road to great success. But with their multi-talented members, intelligent and unique mix of classic and current, and an undeniably active stage presence, they definitely have what it takes to go far.
Set List
- Real Love
- Cologne
- Stronger
- A+E
- Come Over
- Up Again
- Extraordinary
- Heart On Fire
- Mozart’s House
- Dust Clears
– ENCORE –
- Show Me Love (Robin S. cover)
- Rather Be
Written by guest writer, Elmer Palo
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