WU LYF – Live Review

 

I must be one of the few people who last year, avoided WU LYF. I hate following the new buzz, “WU LYF are so great”, “You haven’t listened to their album yet? It’s so blow-minding!” etc.

I happened to meet Ellery Roberts and interview him last January (here), before finally giving the band a listen, and a chance.

So when my friend H. told me she had a spare ticket to their concert, I finally agreed to go and see them live.

 

Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to catch any of the support band so I won’t be able to tell you whether they were worth it or not. To be honest, I was there to see what Ellery was made of when singing live, and most all all, singing “at home”.

 

From the balcony, you could easily see that the crowd was divided into 2 in the arena: the older and wiser fans, who circled and seemed to somehow protect the younger and more eager ones. From above, it was impressive to watch them evolve throughout the concert. From flying glasses filled with beer (or someting else…), fists in the air, mosh diving, dancing and jumping, I realised the WU LYF Cult does exist.

The fans at the front were in a sort of trance state and would also go quiet everytime the band spoke. It was something to experience!

 

The band performed all their songs, adding the beautiful “Wicked Games” cover. From that point, I was won over. They all seemed at ease, interacting with the crowd as if they were all part of a family, the WU LYF family.

One thing that I really appreciated was the fact the Ellery introduced all the members of the band. It might be old-fashioned, but I realised I had missed that part of a gig, cheering each person who collaborates in the succes of a band.

 

At the end of their last song “We Bros”, Ellery dove in the crowd who immediately supported him around the arena. Suddenly, he disappeared and a few seconds later, you could see someone brandishing one of his shoes, then the second. Finally, Ellery got up on his feet, no bouncer could have reached him in order to protect him but it seemed ok as he walked towards the sound engineers, cheered, stopped by his fans, taking the time to speak to them and to take a few pictures. One of his biggest fans showed him his denim jacket, a sweet copy of his own. On his way backstage, a girl called him out and hugged him. This man is loved and adored.

 

I left the concert brandishing my fist. However, I am not fully converted, (meaning I won’t take my shirt off, bounce like a hypnotised rabbit whilst shouting their lyrics) but it was one of the best gigs of 2012 so far.

 

Comments from Facebook

comments