Florence + The Machine, London Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Florence Welch

September 29, 2009

This gig should be called The Return of the Homecoming Queen – it’s the last gig on the band’s current tour and there was a festive feeling in the air: think the anticipation of late-night Xmas Eve crossed with New Year’s Eve at 11.59pm and you’ll have some idea of what the atmosphere was like.

The conducive surrounding of the Shepherd’s Bush Empire adds to the notion that the audience is watching a stage production, and in true Florence + The Machine style, we’re not disappointed. The stage itself is festooned with what looks like bunches of red roses (instruments, mic stand and the wooden bird cages are all riddled with the stuff), complete with candles in the birdcages (lit when Florence enters the stage) and a silver disco ball suspended from the ceiling centre-stage.

After being treated to tunes from artists such as David Bowie and Talking Heads – and a punked-up version of Sister Sledge’s late 70s hit, ‘Lost in Music’ – the band appear and proceed to play ‘Bird Song Intro’ against an acid dream backdrop of psychedelic birds perched on branches of a psychedelic tree. Whoops of delight pierce the air as Florence enters dressed as a woodland nymph in her Ozzy Clark-esque, white flowing gown, giving a more credible performance of said wood nymph than Alison Goldfrapp could ever wish to achieve.

‘My Boy Builds Coffins’ is the lusty opener followed by ‘Kiss with a Fist’ which sees Florence practically knock herself out with the heavy brass jewellery she’s wearing around her neck and on her wrists. An acoustic set ensues with the harp and acoustic guitar on ‘Ghosts’, the b-side to ‘Rabbit Heart’, and a drum-fuelled ‘Drumming Song’.

The third act of the set begins with Florence in silhouette, shrouded by smoke as she sings a capella, followed by what can only be described as a riot of sound complete with blinding stage lights and strobes. On ‘Dog Days’ she manages to get the audience on their feet for the raucous, and ends with an audience rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to her father who’s here all the way from Scotland to see her with haggis and a bottle of whiskey in tow.

After the encores, Florence re-appears in her trademark hotpants -gold this time- with a gold, lame top and hoodie. Everyone’s on their feet for the opening bars of the much-anticipated ‘Rabbit Heart’ and the set ends with a disco-heavy version of Frankie Knuckles’ ‘You’ve Got The Love’. This is definitely one of the best gigs I have been to in a while. It will be worth catching Florence and her band the next time they tour.