Bastille (w/ Lewis Capaldi) @ Victoria Warehouse (Manchester, UK) on February 3, 2019 [Photos & Show Review]

Tonight is our first chance to experience London electro-indie chaps Bastille‘s full visual show. Sure, outdoor gigs are great but nothing beats seeing a band in a dark room when they putting on the kind of visual extravaganza that Bastille are doing on this short run of dates.

While we missed opening act, singer Moss Kena, this was quickly forgotten when we found out that main support for the evening turned out to be Scot Lewis Capaldi. “If you like really sad songs sung by a chubby bloke then you’re in the right place,” jokes the Scot during a quick break in his set. Regardless of whether you’re just here for the headliners, it’s hard not to like Capaldi and his entertaining chatter and, when he takes a step back and starts to belt out the likes of “Hollywood”, you’ll be completely hooked.

By the time the headliners take to the stage, there is barely a space in the room with fans clamouring for a spot. They needn’t worry though because, even though the band take to the stage with frontman Dan Smith lit solely by spotlight, the rest of the set, both visually and musically, fills every space in the vast hall. A relentless barrage of video clips, imagery and effects light up the stage while Smith and his bandmates kick through a set that includes tracks like “Wild World” and “Pompeii”.

Moss Kena joins the band on stage to take the Craig David portion of their hit collaboration “I Know You” while the band also use these dates as a way to introduce fans to material from their upcoming album Doom Days. From start to finish it’s hard to drag your attention from the stage as the band batter this sold-out crowd with a simply mesmerising visual and audio extravaganza and, given the politically-charged imagery flashing up behind them, it’s hard to see Bastille as anything other than one of the most exciting live bands on the UK music scene right now.

It was “Quarter Past Midnight” when we got home from checking out Bastille: