Stornoway

I don't know whether I knew about Stornoway's mini-tour of Australia before or after I saw this poster in probably the coolest place in Australia I've been too, Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne (think the Cowley Road but ten times bigger, sunnier, and with actually successful independant shops).  But having seen it, I kind of had to go and see them.  Stornoway are the best band to emerge from Oxford since Radiohead, and are one of my favourite bands.  A group of Postgraduates (mostly) from Oxford this four-piece (or five-piece or six-piece depending on the occasion and the need of either a violin or trombone - they were a five-piece with the violin this evening) have slowly been gaining fans and momentum for a couple of years. 

They're part of the folk-indie movement that seems to be popular in the UK at the moment, but that would be no reason to be put off by them if thats not your scene! I've seen them twice before.  The first time was at the Sheldonian Theatre with MC (who'd seen them when they were very fresh in Balliol MCR) where they performed with the Oxford Millenium Orchestra as their support act, a fairly genius decision.  At that stage I wasn't too aware of their songs and felt that they were somewhat carried by a very partisan audience, but there was no doubt they were talented. And Zorbing was an amzing tune that I couldn't get out of my head.  Not to mention its a love song about being in the Oxford bubble (or that's what I reckon). A performance on Jools Holland followed and fame almost beckoned but it didn't quite seem to burst into life.

The second Stornoway gig I went to was the closing down sale of independant video and comic book store videosyncratic. It was cramped and short but good. Their album soon followed and got great reviews and some sales.

With MC visiting Australia for a month and located in Sydney it felt like a good opportunity to go and see them again, this time being a fully fledged fan, knowing their songs and stuff.  I was blown away by their performance.  It was amazing. A fantastic gig that I and the entire audience loved. Their frontman Brian Briggs has got over his crippling shyness and replaced it with an endearing witty reluctance.  They've perked up some of their songs to suit a live gig rather than CD, and as a result their singles feel much better (I thought originally that they wouldn't find success as their singles wouldn't be particularly radio friendly).  Stornoway have raised their game, risen from talented musicians to a proper band and gave probably the best gig by a band I've seen since the Coral (consumate professionals).
And they were pretty taken aback too, I don't think they'd expected such a reception or even such a large audience so far from home, it was much bigger and better than their LA gig MC went to (thereby probably being the only person to have seen them on three continents!).

Then this morning came this: http://www.xfm.co.uk/news/2011/stornaway-win-xfms-new-music-award
Winners of Xfm's New Music Award.  Xfm is the best indie station in London (probably the UK) and their award to the best debut album from the last year is rapidly becoming prestigious since its relatively recent inception.  Last year's winners, The XX went on to win the Mercury Music Prize, the top UK music prize.  Hopefully Stornoway are about to get the success they deserve, they are brilliant and you should give them a listen!

They finished their gig with an accoustic version of  "We are the Battery Human", a song which I hated at first, then grew to tolerate, and by the end of their three minute encore to an enraptured audience, I loved it.