Reviewed by Dianne Hartley
Not only my first visit to the new music venue LiVe Preston which is based in Preston Guildhall but my first visit to the newly refurbished Preston Bus Station Car Park. Previous visits had been uncomfortable to say the least with broken lifts, smelly stairwells and dark, intimidating car park floors but NO MORE. I arrived at the car park early evening so it was still daylight, the lifts were spotless and working, the stairwell sweet smelling! The parking is £3.20 (2-4 hrs) or £4.00 (up to 12 hrs) and access to the Guildhall is via the 1st floor. On my return after the gig, the floors were well lit so no longer made me feel uncomfortable and unsafe, well done to the council for breathing new life into this amazing piece of brutalist architecture.
British Sea Power formed in 2000 are an indie rock band based in Brighton. Members are brothers Yan Scott Wilkinson (vocals/guitar) and Neil Hamilton Wilkinson (vocals/bass/guitar), Martin Noble (guitar/keyboards), Matthew Wood (drums), Abi Fry (viola/keyboards) and Phil Sumner (keyboards/cornet/guitar).
They are known for their live performances, usually accompanied by a polar bear and a brown bear, unusual lyrics and the unusual choice of locations for some of their shows. Playing at the Great Wall of China, beside the diplodocus skeleton when it was based at London’s Natural History Museum and beneath the astronomical dish at Jodrell Bank. They’ve also played on ships at sea and deep inside Cornish slate mines.
Previous visits to the venue which is now LiVe Preston was as the foyer for bands playing the main hall so I was intrigued to see how it would fare as the actual venue and first impressions were good. An inspired move to use this for bands that benefit from being up close to the audience.
First support band were Ivan Campo, a band formed in Preston who play gentle folk rock and I fully recommend catching them next time they play around town. They were followed by The DSM IV with Guy McKnight, formally of eighties band Matchbox B-Line Disaster… with an indie-goth sound, McKnight spent as much time in the audience as he did on stage.
By the time it came for the main event the room was starting to get uncomfortably warm to say the least… I put this down to the heatwave we were experiencing and assume it’s not normally oven temperature.
Traditional foliage in place the band launched straight into Machineries of Joy followed by Who’s in Control.
They have 18 years of great material to choose from and Lights Out for Darker Skies, Remember Me and Bad Bohemian get the crowd singing along.
The friendly polar bear and brown bear danced with the audience as the band play their old favourites, Praise for Whatever, No Lucifer, Spirit of St Louis and Carrion.
The encore Waving Flags is always a fan favourite and finishing with the incredible crescendo of The Great Skua sent everyone home glad they’d stayed inside missing the ‘Blood Moon’ eclipse.
If you want to catch British Sea Power live this summer they are playing Indietracks Festival this weekend (28th-29th July) and Beautiful Days Festival on 17th-19th August.
Rating: 5/5
British Sea Power are currently on tour around the UK, for more information and tour dates visit www.britishseapower.co.uk.
For other shows at the Preston Guild Hall visit www.prestonguildhall.co.uk or call the box office on 01772 804444.
The Guild Hall & Charter Theatre, Lancaster Road, Preston, PR1 1HT | 01772 804444