Back To The Dark 80s With The Horrors

Many people were pleasantly surprised when The Horrors released their latest album Skying earlier this year. The songs move between new wave, noise and punk and the electronics add a dark touch to it. The album ended up high on many year lists. They should have played with Halloween but it was postponed until tonight.

The Horrors at Melkweg Amsterdam, December 11 2011 (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
They would definitely be a perfect band to play with Halloween and not just because of their name. The sometimes gloomy music combined with the lighting that has them standing in the shadow most of the time, suits a pumpkin party well. It was killing for my pictures though, so I only was able to get a few that are decent enough to upload. And even those aren't great.



But it's the music that counts and that's all fine. They play a tight set and their songs work great on stage. It shows that all the critics heard it well, since it's clear the songs of the last album are really good. They sound like Simple Minds and Talk Talk in their heydays, mixed with some Joy Division darkness. Singer Faris Badwan sounds convincing and the tight band make good use of playing loud accents.



The synths add the extra dimension that lifts the songs from nice to great. Tracks like 'I Can See Through You' and 'Still Life' go down well and they impress with a sold performance of 'Sea Within A Sea'. There's hardly any interaction with the crowd but that only contributes to their stage presentation. It does stay all a bit on the safe side and the band seems to play on routine and is leaning back too much. Maybe next time they could spice up their set list a bit more to keep it interesting enough for themselves. The Horrors won't scare you, but their music may give you some shivers now and then.

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Setlist
1.Changing The Rain
2.Who Can Say
3.I Can See Through You
4.Scarlet Fields
5.Dive In
6.Endless Blue
7.Sea Within A Sea
8.Still Life
Encore
9.Mirror's Image
10.Three Decades
11.Moving Further Away