Bastille stunned their fans with a spectacular performance of dystopian, futuristic settings through their music and concert visuals.
Showcasing their new Give Me the Future 13-track album, the band were encouraging the crowd to dive into the world of science-fiction, and to explore the way technology can be a tool for escape.
Lead singer Dan Smith spoke to the crowd telling them to “enjoy the visuals and live in the moment”.
The show at the AO Arena in Manchester on Friday night kicked off with warm up act, The Native, a band from Plymouth who played some of their biggest hits including Adore Me which attracted cheers from the crowd. The young band expressed their gratitude of being able to play in front of such a massive audience.
Main vocalist Charlie Noordewier said to the crowd in the middle of their set: “Wow, it’s absolutely crazy I can’t believe we’re here. Three days ago, we were in Amsterdam, the London O2 yesterday and then tonight we’re here in Manchester. It’s crazy!”
The band finished off their set dancing to their tunes, their confidence seemingly increasing with each song they played with some fans from the back of the arena screaming, “I love you Charlie”.
The next warm-up act was show-stopping Jack Garratt, who thrilled fans with amazing stage presence whilst singing a range of songs from his album, one of which has not yet been released but still managed to get fans familiar with the chorus and singing along by the end of the set.
The crowed cheered and danced as he displayed an amazing performance of dancing and singing round the stage branding glittery trousers and shoes that sparkled throughout the colourful, flashing visuals.
He managed to keep the crowd pumped up all the way to Bastille’s entrance asking the crowd, “Who is excited for Bastille? Cheer if you’re excited!” The set ended with him thanking the crowd for their support.
After a short break, Bastille made their entrance onto the stage and it was not one to be missed. The lights shut out completely leaving on a screen on the stage light up, making way for an eerie, robotic sounding voice setting the scene.
The voice, which was subtitled on the screen, read: “From the birth of humanity we have embraced innovation and change, from the very first moment early humans crawled out from the darkness and began to walk on two legs.”
The dystopian sounding voice set the scene for the futuristic set Bastille were about to perform. The stage lit up revealing lead vocalist, Dan Smith, and the band on stage instigating a momentous cheer from the crowd that was only stopped when the band started their first track, Stay Awake?
Throughout the whole set they played, Bastille amazed fans with magnificent, futuristic tech visuals with flashing strobe lights, torches and a screen which displayed a mix of a close up of the live concert merged with clips from music videos creating a warped view for the crowd.
Visuals also consisted of robotic technologies, humans with completely white eyeballs which were missing the pupil and alien like figures. The set emphasised on the development of technologies for good or for bad.
Half-way through the concert Dan Smith excited the crowd by stepping down off the stage and running through the middle of the standing crowd area, high-fiving people as he ran past. Cheers could be heard roaring throughout the arena as fans gleamed at the chance to be within touching distance of the Bastille superstar.
Dan Smith brought backup vocal singers to the front of the stage to perform a dance and gave the opportunity for one of the vocalists to have a short solo piece in which the singer stunned the crowed with her big, soulful voice.
Between each song, in-keeping with the futuristic theme, the big screen displayed a “loading next experience…” – making the crowd feel like they were apart of a new, dystopian experience, having very similar vibes of the hit Netflix show, Black Mirror.
To end the show off, Bastille invited both warm-up acts to join them on stage for their last song, Shut Off the Lights.
Both acts clearly gleaming from the invitation, displayed a wonderful performance of backing vocals, guitarists and got their groove on dancing around the stage. Bastille had one last surprise for the excited crowd, releasing cannons of confetti into the crowds to which screams of joy could be heard from fans.
The whole arena was filled with strobe lights and multicoloured confetti for a spectacular encore display, ending the night on a high with Bastille thanking fans for their support throughout the night and their whole journey as a band. It for sure was a night to be remembered.
