Playing to a sold-out home crowd, SHIELDS harnessed the passion of the Geordie crowd and delivered a tight, well-polished performance.
Electro-pop band SHIELDS last night launched their debut album, ‘How Can We Fix This?’, to an intimate, but packed out venue. Inside the iconic Sage, Gateshead, you would be forgiven for thinking that nerves would have been strained amongst the band.
>>>Read our review of their debut release here
Stepping out onto stage, refreshingly on time, there was a brief pause that suggested that perhaps the occasion was playing on their minds. This however proved to be unfounded. What followed was a joyous hour of a band that knew how to impose a personal touch on a musical genre that is increasingly crowded.
There are many similarities to be made between SHIELDS and a band like Years & Years, but based on tonight’s performance it is clear that they will not be so easily defined.
Dreamy synth melodies stand beside staccato riffs, which in turn are followed by harsh, over-driven guitars and shouted vocals. It would be unfair to pigeonhole this band as just another by-the-numbers synth-pop band. As the set progressed, it was clear to see that the confidence of the band grew with every song. As well as playing material from their latest release, the band stopped on more than one occasion to dedicate one of their older songs to the fans who had been with them from the beginning.
As soon as the evening seemed to start, it was at an end. The band returned to the stage amid chants of “one more tune” to play a two-song encore, closing the set with their latest single ‘Alive’.
SHIELDS will be touring throughout March to promote their album. You can catch them at:
3 March – Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
11 March – Hemelvaart Bar, Ayton
12 March – Mad Hatters, Inverness
13 March – King Tut’s, Glasgow
15 March – Old Blue Last, London
16 March – Oakford Social, Reading
17 March – Aatma, Manchester
18 March – Stage 2 Leeds Beckett University, Leeds
25 March – The Empty Shop, Durham
Get ‘How Can We Fix This’ here: iTunes | Amazon
Original article: LIVE: SHIELDS at The Sage, Gateshead | 26.02.16.
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