Slow Dancing Years
Armed with fenders, keys, a violin and plaid shirts, Dancing Years transcended on Hackney’s Oslo with whimsical ease. So refreshingly comfortable to take the piss out of themselves are this five piece indie folk band from Leeds, that I could probably produce a Buzzfeed style list of “13 things we learned” from Monday night’s gig.
My favourites include; the band recognises that their sound falls on the sombre side; they have tried to rectify this but so far, all they have mustered are toe tappers. They’ve accidentally dedicated a song to golfer Keegan Bradley, and they’ve developed an understandable fanboydom for their supporting act, The Bronze Medal, who attempted to steal the show from the headliners with their Arcade Fire enthused, epic folk rock.
However, I’m sure Dancing Years won’t begrudge them that, having informed the audience of their love for The Bronze Medal several times throughout the gig.
Dancing Years are undoubtedly tighter and behold a richer live sound but there was just something about The Bronze Medal’s slow-building, fuzzy-layered anthems that rattled the senses just a little bit more. Either way, I’m sure we’re not about to witness a 90s style britpop rivalry to match Oasis vs Blur but there definitely seemed to be a blossoming bromance between these two.
Nevertheless, Dancing Years charmed the east London crowd with their trademark brand of composed indie folk sonnets. What grabs you about Dancing Years is the ability of lead vocalist David Henshaw to flip his vocals between haunting intimacy and intrusive angst, at times you feel like his vocal chords will snap from the intensity but he always manages to reign it in, either to a delicate falsetto or a speech like inflection.
Besides showing their appreciation between each song, the crowd remained immaculately silent throughout, which is a testament to the intensity of the whole band. Each instrument was placed perfectly within the mix, never competing for space, which allowed Henshaw’s haunting vocals to drift effortlessly across the top.
This shouldn’t sound like a huge achievement but surprisingly, this facet is often lacking on the club scene. I’ve seen so many bands with a lazy live show. Dancing Years however, knows exactly when to pull back or go all out and their live performances are as good, if not better than their recorded material.
Stand out performances included fan favourites such as Borderline, a mid-tempo piano ballad with a serene violin hook that builds to a climax of crunching guitars and pain staking vocals. Then there was Leaving The House, another melancholy balled that sooths with summertime, Sun Kil Moon style vibes.
For the encore there was Falling Wood, which gave Henshaw one last chance to air his troubled lyrics over a bed of sweeping strings, piano trills and crashing drums.
Both of these awesome bands are hanging up their gear for the remainder of 2014 but be sure to check back next year for gig updates.
Zak Thomas
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