NME Awards struggle to live up to hype

The Shockwaves NME Awards Tour, if the last four years is anything to go by, is a strong indication of which musicians will be willingly pushed, poked and prodded into the limelight for a lucrative debut album and success for at least the remainder of that year, if not further.

In the years since 2007, bands such as Bombay Bicycle Club, Glasvegas, The Maccabees and White Lies have been handpicked to adorn the tour’s chosen stages, stretching from Brighton all the way up to Glasgow, in order to showcase the most promising emerging talent.

The tour, which in years past has also assisted rock titans Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, and The Killers in taking their music to the masses, initiated its 2012 exposition at the 02 Academy last Wednesday and despite being entirely sold-out across the country, it transpired to be surprisingly underwhelming.

Unusually, only two of the four performers on the line-up could be named ‘fresh’ talent’. Having formed over five years ago and with their solitary debut album Tourist History hitting shelves almost two years ago, headliners Two Door Cinema Club are anything but new.

Their inclusion, although not in any way unwelcome, appeared to be designed to exhibit the best of their upcoming album to those already familiar with their harmonious, effervescent indie as opposed to unleashing one of Northern Ireland’s most popular exports upon oblivious revellers.

Similarly, London-based electronic act Metronomy are also dowsed with experience, so it was down to Harlem, New York’s latest troublemaker Azealia Banks and Camden’s grunge-rock outfit Tribes to parade their music to the baying crowd.

You’d be forgiven for missing the very brief and unexpectedly timid opening set from rapper Banks, who failed, on the night, to fully live up to the hysteria surrounding her, but we suspect that’s more because of a lack of experience than potential.

If she is to follow the particular pattern her ice-breaking predecessors from previous years have done, she is destined to become as successful as Florence And The Machine, The Drums and The Vaccines, who opened NME Tours 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively. With her album due out in May after recently signing to Universal records, The Journal both expects and anticipates greater things from the rapper than what was on offer.

Much the same can be said about Camden’s new buzz band Tribes, who disappointingly failed to arouse the crowd or leave any lasting impression of the music from the album NME named their first contender for album of the year.

Despite possessing genuinely memo- rable songs like Sappho and When My Day Comes, Tribes’ output washed away aimlessly into the crowd, unfortunately cleansing any reminders for The Journal to download their debut album Baby.

It was like listening to their album while being trapped inside a washing machine; automatic, monotonous, and
somewhat repetitive. Hopefully, the Camden outfit can actually find a way to launder the banality from their pristine leather jackets for their next return to Glasgow, otherwise they’ll be swiftly left out to dry.

Metronomy took to the stage complete with fully-functioning orb push-pads adorning each member’s chests and immediately soared into their funk-filled electronica without hesitation. Revitalising the crowd from the first song, the band breezed through their set as the synths in Corinne, redolent of a child’s playful attempts on a glockenspiel, carried Metronomy through to older numbers and they rewarded those already familiarised with their electronica with tracks On Dancefloors, Radio Ladio and most notably, 2006’s disturbing, sinister vortex You Could Easily Have Me.

As Metronomy’s last song’s pace increased, so did its distressing nature, to the point that the furious red and white light-show only enhanced the childish menace until it was fully evocative of a frantic, menacing journey on Willy Wonka’s psychedelic boat with only Queens Of The Stone Age for companions.

It was, overall, a pleasing performance from an experienced and idiosyncratic act.

Finally, Glasgow’s adopted sons Two Door Cinema Club graced the stage, and burned through their set in their usual vibrant fashion. Tracks from their new album were showcased, making it clear their sound has continued on from debut Tourist History without much deviation, and they closed the whole night amidst the breakneck riff of I Can Talk and expressions of gratitude from a youthful, sweat-drenched crowd.

Considering how much emphasis the NME Tour places on showcasing fresh talent, the exhibition of their ‘brand new’ artists was incredibly underwhelming, while the experienced acts proved reli- able and more rewarding; much like leaving the house with the intention of buying a mint-condition top-of-the-range computer to come home with a second-hand typewriter, it wasn’t a fruitless experience but still one that left a lingering sense of dismay of not receiving what was initially anticipated.