Band of Skulls (supported by Broken Hands)- The Waterfront, Norwich 29/02/12

Fresh from supporting the superb The Black Keys on their European Tour, Band of Skulls hit Norwich as one of the stops on their headlining tour. Rianna Hudson reports.

Band of Skulls Broken Hands The UEA Drop The Waterfront uea

Two parts beard and one part cool bass playing chick, Band of Skulls affirm that they are one of the coolest bands around.

Opening the evening was the fairly unknown and unsigned band, Broken Hands. Having only recently formed, they had just a handful of tracks to give, but this didn’t stop them from delivering a great set. The standout song was by far ‘Brother’ from their 7” single, but other tracks, such as ‘Wept’ and ‘Sorrow’ from their Quadrangle Session E.P., were also instantly likeable. The four boys from Kent proved that just because you set up your own equipment and sell your own merchandise, doesn’t mean you can’t rock a stage as well.

Band of Skulls then followed. They seemed to embrace the stage in the small capacity venue, quite a downsize from London’s Alexandra Palace, where they played to 10,000 alongside The Black Keys to three sold out shows. The Skulls were, as expected, brilliant. They played a mixture of tracks from their new album Sweet Sour, and their 2009 debut, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey. Standouts included old favourites ‘Death by Diamonds and Pearls’ and ‘I Know What I Am’, which got the crowd instantly settled in for the evening of head-bopping. Newer tracks gave the set some diversity, the heavy-hitting intro of ‘Sweet Sour’ provided the punch while the more mellow ‘Lay My Head Down’ slowed things down a bit. Frontman Russell Marsden told the audience that this was the first time they had performed ‘Lay My Head Down’ live, and it certainly turned out to be a highlight of the set, perfectly combining the vocal harmonies of both Marsden and front-woman Emma Richardson.

Norwich is very lucky to have housed a band that really does embody the phrase ‘cool, calm and collected’. Band of Skulls provided a night of terrific music and a great atmosphere, may they return again someday to our little venue down by the waterfront.