Mono & Alcest @ The Brudenell Social Club | 13/11/2016
Mono played a surprisingly wide array of material from their 4 most recent albums dating back to 2009's Hymn To The Immortal Wind. Starting the set with my personal favourite 'Ashes in the Snow.' This song starts very quietly with a glockenspiel duet and usually when these kinds of sections are played at gigs in Leeds this is the time when the audience can forget they are listening to a band and begin a full-blown conversation about their last drunken night out...Strangely enough, this never happened whilst Mono were playing, the audience were truly captivated throughout which I was very grateful for.
Animal Collective @ Leeds University | 07/09/2016
I have never been sure if Animal Collective's songs would translate well in to a live setting & while the energy & stage presence is all there, there is one element of their music that I feel prevents it from working 100%. That is the dissonance between the sole acoustic instrument (the drum kit) and the other members who are playing synthesisers & sample pads through a giant tangle of pedals & mixers. The drums were often overpowering, even when they weren't meant to be and many sections of songs felt a bit of a mess of crazy electronic sounds and frantic drums.