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NME Tour

Venue: Academy
Town: Bournemouth
Date: 22nd February
Website: www.metronomy.co.uk/

It must be something of a nightmare to be part of an awards tour. The potential for ego-mentalists and terminal clashes hang in the air along with a slight mist of panic, bearing in mind that your band has both been fawned and feted over for what feels like an eternity or is an old hand to this kind of caper.

The mighty NME Awards Tour never fails to rumble into town bringing with it a certifiable grand success (having seen the Maccabees on one of these tours I can assure you that's correct). Tonight is the O2 Academy's turn to play host and the mix is pretty diverse.

Harlem rapper babe Azealia Banks seems an odd choice to start the night but 10 seconds of debut single "212" with all its scuzzy lyrics has the room bouncing and fired up. North Londoners Tribes take over and instantly look like they belong. Looking suitably Camden-ified in a overly cool, overly grubby, naughty boy kind of way, they don't muck about, just slamming straight into their set and giving the sea of upturned faces a 30 minute joyride.

Who can resist a bad boy or four? Tribes are a product of the rock 'n' roll shed but still manage to maintain a 6th former sound that instead of making you disregard them as yet another bunch of wannabes makes you fall just a little bit in love with them. "Sappho", "Whenever" and "When My Day Comes" proves just how popular and on the money they are as a band.

The wonky pop electro lovelies Metronomy never fail to bring a room up as much as they manage to chill it out. Despite being the oldest hands on the bill tonight the dynamic of them works as sweet as the proverbial nut. Joseph Mount may be just one part of Metronomy but without him it's hard to think what the band would be like. Bright lights worn on their chests at least give you a marker as to where they are on stage but a visual gimmick isn't really needed when they've crafted songs as brilliant as "The Look", "She Wants" and "Everything Goes My Way". Maybe they just want the limelight kept right where they can see it.

Two Door Cinema Club know what they're about too. Alex Trimble may have never been to Bournemouth before but he and band mates Kevin Baird and Sam Halliday give the impression of warm, heartfelt affiliation with the place. After claiming that swimming in the sea this morning was "the coldest thing I've ever done" Trimble and the Bangor boys nailed the beats of "Undercover Martyn", "I Can Talk" and This Is The Life" to the over excited, full capacity venue.

New tracks "Handshake" and "Costume Party" joined the set list (their new album is being recorded next month) and like many of their other works, can be spotted at 100 yards. Catchy hooks, simple riffs; these are all you need to fully appreciate TDCC. Next Wednesday night has a lot to live up to after tonight's efforts I can tell you.

Emma Sutherland
http://emmasutherland.posterous.com