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Slow Club, London Scala

Live Reviews

Groundlings jig uncontrollably in delirious delight and percussion swells from all around as the crowd claps, stamps and simmers.

24th September 2009, London Scala / By Ellen Swingler
Slow Club Slow Club are folksy duo, Charles (all facial hair / sarcasm / red jeans) and Rebecca (the most endearingly scatty blonde this side of their native Sheffield). Touring to promote debut album ‘Yeah So’, they kick off their "biggest gig ever" at Londons Scala in the audience. Lights dim, acoustic guitar bubbling from an indeterminate part of the floor. A small clearing emerges and the quiet acoustic beauty of ‘Wild Blue Milk’ is completed from the centre of a crowd immediately giddy with joy.

Clambering to the twinkling stage the charming twosome launch into a thunderingly joyous ‘Because We’re Dead’. And yes, Rebecca blows Meg White out. of. the. water. on drums. Charles then leads an impromptu communal photography session in a characteristically spontaneous aside which coupled with Rebecca’s penchant for stand up, brilliantly awful George Michael joke included, are as beguiling as the tunes. Next the spiraling harmonies of ‘It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful’ captivate anyone who isn’t already completely beside themselves with affectionate glee. Charles boasts his ‘best whistling ever’ during ‘When I Go’ whilst Rebecca is disabled by giggles. The tipsy northern accented ramblings throughout only serve to make a show more engaging and you get the feeling that the apocalypse couldn’t stop their momentum.

What might just be the live act of the year next soar into the confused melancholy of ‘There is No Good Way to Say I’m Leaving You’, followed by a spectacularly shouty ‘Giving Up On Love’ and the catchiest of the album tracks, ‘Dance Til The Morning Light’. The commotion of applause for the encore brings a bafflingly beautiful ‘Lets Fall Back In Love’ and finally a departure to the back of the crowded floor for a sing-a-long of fan favourite ‘Christmas TV’. Groundlings jig uncontrollably in delirious delight and percussion swells from all around as the crowd claps, stamps and simmers.

There is no doubt that Slow Club are thoroughly intoxicating and the only reservation, if but one miniscule peep, is that the lovely album just can’t compare once you’ve seen them live. Spellbinding and a must see. Rating: 9/10
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