Live: BEN HOWARD // O2 Academy Brixton, London
It was more than just another Friday night at Ben Howard’s sold-out show at the O2 Academy in Brixton.
The double Brit Award 2013 winner’s fourth studio album, Collections From The Whiteout was his second to peak at number 1 and with Aaron Dessner of The National at the helm of its production, it’s easy to see why.
A mid-century modern armchair took centre stage, sat atop a rug and surrounded by lamps as if we were to feel like we were in Ben Howard‘s living room. You would have hardly noticed the moon boot on his left leg if not for the slightly awkward shuffling around and hobbling as Ben was, impressively, on his feet for almost the entirety of the show. Finders Keepers kicked things off and set the scene for the rest of the night with distorted synths laying a raft that floated us through the ambient new songs such as Follies Fixture and Crowhurst’s Meme.
A spectacular series of videos played on the screen behind him – largely clips from the album’s music videos, with some line drawings and live projections of Ben thrown in. Cheers from the crowd erupted as soon as the chords to I Forget Where We Were came on, taking us back to 2014 and continued with Rivers In Your Mouth. The nostalgic trip went even further down memory lane when we were treated to a first album single, The Wolves, reimagined in the style of the new tracks to match the rest of the set.
Finally, the chorus of Small Things – “Has the world gone mad, or is it me?” – served as a harrowing reminder of the last eighteen months, which we had all but forgotten for the night, packed in like sardines and hypnotised by the kaleidoscopic abstracts that rolled on in the background.
Photos: Abigail Shii