London Grammar at the Rescue Rooms

Amidst all the clamour and acclaim for London Grammar’s new album ‘If You Wait’, it is easy to forget that they were freshers at Nottingham University as recently as 2009. This meant a particularly poignant night for the trio, who openly reminisced over times spent on the audience side of the Rescue Rooms barriers.

Photo courtesy of Shaun Wootton

The appropriately chosen main support came in the form of the Noah and the Whale-esque ‘Sivu’, who brought a pair of lovely ladies along called Kirsty and Rachel. With Rachel playing the cello and Kirsty the violin, it was certainly unconventional, but their unorthodox plucking had every male attendee entranced.

Despite resembling the lovechild of Vince Vaughn and Pete Doherty and sweating an inappropriate amount, Sivu delivered. A fine find for indie lovers who like Fleet Foxes, Bombay Bicycle Club and other hipster things.

The headliners opened with a haunting rendition of ‘Hey Now’, a beautifully chilling song which seems to echo in the soul.

Frontwoman Hannah Reid stepped out in what looked like supermarket bought attire, flaunting a perfectly pitched, delay-clad voice, comparable to the powerful Annie Lennox and Florence Welch. It literally could not be faulted, literally.

Multi-talented Dot (Cotton) Major and shy guitarist Dan Rothman built brilliantly around Reid’s outstanding tone with melancholic sounds obviously heavily influenced by The XX.

Photo courtesy of Shaun Wootton

It was refreshing to see Reid politely interacting with an admittedly noisy, impolite crowd – seriously Nottingham, shut the hell up and let the woman speak.

Despite the shit banter, the atmospheric night peaked somewhere between the cover of Kavinsky’s ‘Nightcall’ and the evocative ‘Strong’ – songs both included on an album I strongly implore you to buy and experience live.