Bouncing from the snyth act and borderline homoerotic dance moves of support Silver Columns, Au Revoir Simone take the lead, brushing aside that the tour is without a dominating new release and Annie Hart is in pregnant bloom. Yet returning to the Scala to a worshipping crowd, the dream pop band, namely Annie, can’t help but gracefully gloat in their present success (go hindsight!). Over two years ago, Londoners' shunned them at their debut show - they could barely string together a track without riling up a “get off the stage!” retort. Three records later, the keyboard sisters still stutter and tumble over that fateful song, hoot endearing admittance that “all of our songs are about heartache”, inviting pining sighs from the Scala crowd.
While this may not be the subsequent album tour, once the charismatic ‘Another Likely Story’ starts the set, Still Night, Still Light is pinned as the overpowering direction for this show. Tending to the rapt audience, the trio bears wide-eyed grins as Annie keys the soprano pulses on keys, Heather D’Angelo fires up the drum machine and Erika Forster tinkers across with accompanying synth. The old timer ‘Sad Song’ subtly crops up second and their lo-fi past lingers ever so hollow in the set when sat amongst their noticeably stronger tracks from Still Night.
Considering ‘Sad Song’ is the only oldie to appear and coincidently amongst the problematic bullying glitches of a runaway mic stand and twitching starts, Au Revoir Simone prove their musical dedication away from the lo-fi. They hitch together clear-cut and united vocal harmonies with complex instrumental progressions in ‘Anywhere You Looked’ while ‘Shadows’ haunts in the emotive reverence of Heather’s delicate lyrics “I’m not strong without you” cliché against Annie’s brilliant continuous keyboard refrain in the backdrop.
The fantastical ‘Only You Can Make You Happy’ is an all round meaty affair, burning through the keyboard waves, poignantly minus any lyrical interaction until almost three minutes in. With the rosy lights and smoke machine in effect, the syncopated vocal harmonies of the keyboard three transcend the performance to exhilarating and spiritual heights. Testament to their neurotic sound check we sneakily caught earlier, the band’s meticulous confidence flourishes for ‘Knight of Wands’, engaging a clappy-happy audience before the belting encore of Don Henley’s cover ‘Boys of Summer’, involving Erika's self-confessed cliché demand for shades from an willing punter.
If their fan base is anything to go by (many lurked behind to grasp mere moments with them), Au Revoir Simone’s limbo show was an unnecessary sly poke to remind Londoners what the fuss is about. Yet, with Annie off to birth out a keyboard kind, no new material performed and Erika’s summer send off to: “fall in love – make it count”, Au Revoir Simone appears to wish an indefinite bear hug goodbye...we just pray it’s not for too long.
Words: Gemma Dempster
Photographer: Minh Le