Having seen The Bulletproof Bomb live now more times than I’ve got hairs on my chin (curse my crippling inability to grow facial hair), it seems as though I might as well tell you why I’m as madly in love with their on-stage presence as I am with their exquisite releases.
As headliners of a night which was curated in a rather strange manner – they were pre-empted by some high quality stripped-back reggae sounds and a northern rapper who would have perhaps made a stronger case for himself if he hadn’t worn a suit – this was a curious outing for TBB as the majority of their audience were seated around tables in the middle of the Ace Hotel’s basement bar.
This layout somewhat hampered the way in which the crowd were able to get up and dancing with the band, albeit that didn’t stop a few of us who were a few drinks worse for wear for having what my mum would call a ‘bop’ to the side of the stage. If you’ve ever listened to the band before you’ll know that they really heavily on a high-intensity sound, fast up-beat rhythms covered up with jangly guitars, blasting bass and a voice that could slice cleanly through sheet metal.
All these sounds are then added to the element of sheer enjoyment when they step onto the stage – as well as off it, which was the case for Joel (vocals) and Tom (Bass)(surnames are not my forte…) as they bounded about as close to the crowd as they could. There was a real passion in the way that all five members went about their business and it never seemed as though this was anything more than just another fun excursion for them.
When you’re enjoying what you’re doing as much as this it can really shine through and, if they keep rising at this rate, they’ll be on Top Of The Pops in no time. Hang on…
We Close Tonight 