Wednesday, 26 October 2011

yann tiersen @ o2 abc, 23rd october

Should anyone still be attending Yann Tiersen shows solely on the back of the Amelie soundtrack that broke his name outside France, the absence of an accordion from the instrument-strewn stage will be a disappointment. For such (possibly fictional) demi-fans, the disappointment surely doesn’t last beyond the opening pair of Dust Lane tracks: Till The End soars on its breathily-sung refrain and gently-epic expanse, while Palestine sees Tiersen and band tense into layers of vocoder and motorik drums. Together, the six bodies on stage possess a formidable collective talent: the biggest cheers accompany Tiersen’s bow-shredding violin technique, but the surrounding multi-instrumentalists are none too shabby. In The Gutter alone, their multitasking is impressive: acoustic guitar swapped for electric, ukulele for glockenspiel, synths for cymbals, brass for bass. A dilute audience robs the evening of a little magic, but with highlights like Esther’s melodica-infused dream-dirge, Tiersen’s got plenty to go around.

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