Florence + The Machine @ Mod Club

November 3rd, 2009

Louder than sirens, louder than bells!

Musically, there are few things that bring me as much pure joy as the last 30 seconds of Florence + the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over”. But 70 minutes of Florence live in a small venue?! Pure bliss.

Fronted by the completely enchanting Florence Welch, London’s FATM has quickly risen from obscurity thanks to a buzz-building live show and their debut album Lungs. Which, by the way, is a top contender for my favourite album of 2009. Florence writes and sings, the Machine provides the very strong backbone for her powerful, stunning vocals.

Just a couple months ago I found myself routinely scouring FATM tour dates, crossing my fingers for ANYTHING on this side o’ the pond. Sadly, it seemed the schedule was firmly booked through 2009 in Europe. BUT HARK!!! About a month ago, four North American dates popped up, including Toronto! Success!!! And last night I finally got to see Florence in action, AKA one of the best shows I’ve seen all year.

More plus photos after the jump…

Here’s one reason why Florence is awesome: this quote on her blog.

“I was on CNN, where the woman told me off on live television for not looking into the camera, and then said I seemed kind of overwhelmed by everything, OF COURSE IM OVERWHELMED IM LIVE ON CNN! Oh and I punched a ghost that I found sitting on the end of my bed in my hotel room.

Another reason why she’s so awesome: the lady comes out on stage (the wall draped with a floral sheet, covered in hand-painted, glow-in-the-dark flowers) wearing a long, black solemn dress. Her mic stand is dressed with flowers and a drum sits to her left. She opens her mouth to sing the opening lines of “Between Two Lungs”, and instantly the crowd is her bitch. Her voice is near perfect. In the next 70 minutes she floats around the stage, banging on her drum, jumping up and down, never losing the power in her voice and always accenting the performance with grand gestures.

The setlist included most of Lungs as well as a couple others, including her haunting cover of Cold War Kids’ “Hospital Beds” and a non-album B-side called “Are You Hurting The One You Love”. It’s interesting to see which songs are crowd pleasers - big reactions for “Cosmic Love” and “You’ve Got The Love”, but also my favourites “Dog Days Are Over”, “Drumming Song” and “My Boy Builds Coffins”. Lots of people seem to go for her more melancholy fare while I gravitate towards the big, joyful, poppy tunes (well, joyful music paired with often morbid lyrics! Ah, the enthralling dichotomy of Florence). If I could live one moment over and over again, it would be her electrifying performance of “Dog Days”, for which the crowd clapped along and then, upon Florence’s request, jumped up and down repeatedly for the final minute. The happiness on her face and ours was magnetic.

Taking moments to sip drinks and thank the crowd repeatedly during song breaks, Florence became like any other 23-year-old, overwhelmed by her success and grateful for the life she’s found. Then the music would kick in, and suddenly she’d transform back into a lion-hearted girl, ready for a fight. At times she seemed like a mannequin come to life on Today’s Special, other times she was a wild woman on the loose. This dichotomy between real Florence and performance Florence makes her even more likable.

If you’re down with soul-rousing music performed by a spellbinding femme-de-force, look up FATM. She’s gonna be a star.