By Jase Walker
The inferno that has been raging across Europe continues and I’m once again praying for some decent level of air conditioning tonight because I’m not keen on another trip home looking like I’ve just completed an Iron Man challenge. Anyway, that’s besides the point, tonight I’m ticking off a massive bucket list band for myself, American Football! Not just that but it’s at one of my favourite venues in the country too, Paradiso.
Along for the ride and opening up super soon after doors is Marconi Union who are a totally new name for me but, as always, I’m happy to hear new music and bands.
As an aside, lovely air conditioning tonight, thank god.
Marconi Union is formed of just two members, one behind a set of keys and the other with a guitar and what looks to be a synth setup with a spaghetti junction of cables spitting out of the back of it. Not many words are said to introduce themselves but they begin and this beautiful blanket of ethereal sound washes over me with a subtle beat to carry it along.
This reminds me a lot of the likes of Zero7, Röyksopp or AIR, so I’m pretty much in my element right from the start, I love this sort of chilled ambient electronic music. The music is definitely what I would describe as subtle, each entry in the set is a journey on musical soundscapes that sweep you away and take their time unfolding.
The production lighting mirrors this super well, with a large white sheet adorning the backdrop of the stage that has strobes behind it that pulse and flash at times to create a ghostly light effect while the rest of the stage is drenched in contrasting colours with slowly moving patterns. The other feeling I get which appears now and then is the Daft Punk ‘TRON’ soundtrack, with it’s sweeping strings and slight discord tinge, lovely stuff though.
With the venue now full the air conditioning is struggling but whatever, it’s American Football time!
The intro slowly builds as each member walks on separately to take their positions. The backing sheet takes on a faint green glow with shimmering patterns dancing around.
Their style has this rare quality of managing to sound busy yet not at the same time, there’s a lot going on and yet the overall pace feels very chill overall. With the wider catalogue of music they’re playing through so far, it’s a reminder that it’s easy to pigeonhole American Football as a Midwest emo band and while that carries a fair amount of weight, there’s much stronger influences from the likes of The Cure, INXS, The Smiths and the like also.
It’s such a fantastically engrossing show, the sound quality is excellent and the visuals they have playing behind them are just the right sort to fit such chilled music. I’d also like to say this is the first time I’ve seen a drummer switch to trumpet on a segment but sadly Nordic Giants got in there first a few years ago.
The execution of this show is truly phenomenal though, the years under their belt as a band really shows with this from the setlist choices that make the crowd go “OOOOH!” with every new song all the way to the incredible visual aesthetic.
The band makes a quick comment about “playing some old shit” which is welcomed with a round of cheers and applause because for a band like American Football, that first album certainly put them on the map and has them credited with almost single-handedly inventing Midwest emo as a genre. This of course leads up to “Never Meant” which sees every arm in the room go up to capture a quick recording of the song before joining in unison to belt the words out. What a beautiful moment it is though.
The encore begins with a duet between the drummer playing trumpet and then followed up by the bass player doing a tender melody on his keyboard and bouncing back and forth for a bit before the rest of the band join them. An extended encore at four songs but thematically a bit of a shift in the music and stands on its own quite well as its own set.
This has been a serious bucket list band for me, American Football have remained a hallmark of music that has gone on to influence huge segments of the music I enjoy today and seeing one of the titans of this particular niche is an incredible privilege. A band that everyone should catch at least once. Now it’s time to try to sleep because I’m bloody boiling.
