MOUSTASHIE: Kodaline, New Album & Manchester Gig Review

KODALINE, NEW ALBUM & MANCHESTER GIG REVIEW

Last night one of my dreams came true: I got to see Kodaline live for the first time, and this was a rather big deal for me. You see, for the last two years or so I've been a big, big fan of Kodaline, as you can see in this gushing blog post I wrote a couple of years ago. Ever since I first heard Fearne Cotton play 'All I Want' for the first time on Radio One, and then subsequently proceeded to watch the video before forcing my sister to watch it, their music has been an ever present feature of the last two years of my life. Kodaline's music has been the soundtrack to my college years, perfectly decoding the events, feelings and going-ons into beautiful musical and lyrical form that captivate my heart every time. I love this band infinitely, and yet for some peculiar reason, I've never actually been to see them live. I missed my chance a couple of years ago and since then have been patiently waiting for a chance to come around again. Luckily for me, my chance finally came late last year when Kodaline announced a UK 2015 tour in support of their new album 'Coming Up For Air'. and wha'd'ya know as chance would have it, I got to see them yesterday with my friend at the spectacular Albert Hall in Manchester, and I'll be seeing them again at The Institute in Birmingham. It's just crazy and oh so wonderful indeedy, and I feel very, very, very lucky.

The last couple of days I've been obsessively playing Kodaline's new album on repeat in preparation for the gig, and honestly I had mixed opinions about what I heard. 'Coming Up For Air' retains some of the same qualities and core spirit that was much adored on their début album 'In A Perfect World', such as Steve Garrigan's passionate vocals, the gorgeous instrumental accompaniments, the beautiful lyrics and elements of grandeur that take each song to another stratosphere, but naturally their sound has progressed some what. 'In A Perfect World' caught me head over heels within a couple of songs, it was complete and utter perfection. In contrast, 'Coming Up For Air' is a grower. It takes time and patience, but give it those things and you will get so much more in return, as I found out yesterday at the gig.

Walking in to Albert Hall with my friend, we didn't honestly know what to expect, but the venue literally taking our breath away was a rather good start. Albert Hall is a gorgeously antique and baroque building with huge stained glass windows circling around the building, cream pillars, grand staircases, soft mellow lighting, and a patterned ceiling that has the appearance of being lit up with a sprinkling of silver stars. It's truly magical, and when you fill it with three fantastic creators of beautiful music, and sell it out with thousands of happy people it makes for an incredible experience. Support for the show came firstly in the form of The Mispers, who were a rather pleasant surprise and definitely ones to watch out for, even if it took us the entire gig to figure out what their name was, and second was one of my new favourites Port Isla who are surely headed for definite success in the very near future.

However it was when Kodaline's Steve, Vinny, Jason and Mark walked on stage that the crowd erupted with pure happiness, and the band launched into a dazzling array of songs from 'In A Perfect World' and 'Coming Up For Air'. The stunning venue and Kodaline's tranquil, impassioned, wonderful music catalogue perfectly complemented one another, and I swear there was pure magic in the air as they played their hour and a half set. The band were illuminated with a series of jewel toned light bulbs and strobe lights, and watching the four of them interact as they played together was really quite something. They played all of my absolute favourite songs, from 'High Hopes', 'All Comes Down', 'Way Back When' and of course 'All I Want' (cue the epic fangirling), and this leads me onto the new album. The songs Kodaline played from 'Coming Up For Air', such as 'War', 'Love Will Set You Free' and 'Unclear' sounded so, so good live. It's like they became something else entirely when realised before your eyes and ears and complemented by the spectacular surroundings. They were majestic, powerful and stunning, and to round things off, everything about the Kodaline gig was just complete and utter perfection, an incredible musical experience, and it was an absolute privilege to be a part of it.

I LOVE KODALINE!!

http://www.kodaline.com/

MY KODALINE TOP TEN