Years & Years + Sam Sure + Zibra @ The Institute Library, 26th February 2015

Years & Years, the BBC Music Sound Of 2015, are playing The Library tonight, after a venue upgrade from The Temple on the first of a sold out run of dates across the UK. Support is provided by Sam Sure and Zibra.

Opening tonight’s proceedings were the bass ridden pop quartet Zibra. On the opening date of a sold out tour and with a venue upgrade too, Zibra played to a pretty packed out room. However, I sensed a lack of enjoyment amongst the crowd seeing as half of them took the opportunity to use their phones, possibly to check if a dress was blue/black or white/gold. Royal Blood, The 1975 and a sample pad would be an accurate description of Zibra but with the bass turned to eleven and a seemingly inexperienced sound engineer, all I could hear was their thumping bass lines and funky hi hat beats. Finishing with a cover, the four-piece seemed happy with their performance. This was by no means a bad set, but the combination of a hard to please audience, bad sound and a lack of known material turned what potentially could have been good, into something quite average.

Sam Sure is providing main support tonight with his spin on the over-saturated synth pop market. Needlessly loud bass, simple drum beats and soulful vocals were what made up the three piece. Four tracks in and with the technical difficulties overcome, his set was in full swing. As I was being slowly destroyed by the bass I wondered if the tickets came with a warning regarding hearts being thumped into submission during Sam Sure’s set. After checking with the kind gentleman next to me, it turns out they didn’t and I may need to contact Injury Lawyers 4 U to see where I stand on that one. The absence of anything original, interesting or catchy made for a particularly dull set that I was glad to see the back of.

After some pretty intense people watching on my part, I had come to the conclusion that the majority of the female crowd appeared to think they were going clubbing; heels, tight dresses and ridiculously overpowering perfume. The male audience, on the other hand varied from boyfriends that didn’t want to be there, all the way to husbands that didn’t want to be there. The demographic was set in stone for Years & Years.

As the lights go down I’m momentarily deafened as the female crowd take an early opportunity to fill the room with squeals.  Track two prompts the first sing along of the night from fans. Considering Years & Years have only just been recognised by the BBC, almost the entire room know the words – proving that they must be doing something right. Before track three, Desire, vocalist Olly Alexander tells the crowd that they have been a band for five years and that this was their first headline tour. Getting a response of screams, it is clear that this group of people are big fans of the synth pop trio. It must be quite hard for bands of this nature to continue making songs that sound original as there’s only so much that can be done with a synthesiser. However, actor come singer, Alexander, has a distinct voice that thankfully is able to make the otherwise generic band stand out.

Slowing things down somewhat, Alexander sits down to play keyboard, on his own, with no synth, bringing a chilled out atmosphere to the over excited crowd. The isolation of his unique voice gives him a chance to highlight his impressive vocal ability; something that I feel Years & Years does not allow him to do. Ditching the keyboard sees the pace pick back up and the squealing returns. The band certainly knows how to construct a good setlist, cleverly placing new songs after big hits allows for maximum enjoyment from the always engaged crowd. Two upbeat tracks later and I’m wishing the keyboard was back as not only were the songs better, but Alexander never had the chance to dance like that embarrassing uncle at a wedding when he was sat down. As the end of the set drew near I could feel myself having to concentrate extremely hard to differentiate between the end of one track and the start of another, proving my earlier statement – there is only so much you can do with a synthesiser. Ending the set with their new single King, Years & Years re-establish themselves as the synth pop band that they first came across as.

As synth-pop bands go, Years & Years are certainly on par with all the others that currently find themselves in the Top 40. That being said, I’m unsure they are worthy of the “Sound of 2015” title as that sound has been around for years and isn’t only just being discovered.

Review: Dan Wilson

Photographs: Katja Ogrin

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