REVIEW

Mature band on top form

Shepherd’s Bush Empire: Delirious

One would think that writing live concert reviews for any band who have been regularly gigging for near a decade gets incrementally more difficult. After all, this is a story that has been told thousands of times the world over. In the nine years since Delirious went full-time, following a life-changing car accident post-gig one night, rough calculations allege the band have played to well over five million people. Their songs have travelled across the globe into the cultural consciousness of a multitude of church denominations and hearts.

But despite the backbreaking statistics, live gigs are always mysterious, unpredictable, transient experiences. Never quite the same as one another, they always fill band and crowd alike with the dynamic expectation of what might happen when the two meet. That synergy between crowd and artist was electric tonight; the expectancy helped no end by the considered eloquence of Taylor
Sorensen and a majestic platform-building debut London appearance for the Rock and Roll Worship Circus.

Shepherd's Bush is the best live music venue in London. Forget the cavernous concrete of Brixton academy, the dank must of the Camden Falcon or the suave loungers of the Jazz Café. Shepherd's Bush is just beautiful with its theatrical tiering, red carpets and gold leaf finishes. This was Delirious' seventh visit to this awesome venue and marked the high point of the World Service tour thus far, seeing the marriage of prestigious location and vibrant capital crowd with a band clearly getting into a confident stride of performing a solid new album.

Needless to say, the new material felt more inherently 'Delirious' than anything they have ventured so far. The overwhelming feel was of a mature band at the top of their game, confident with the songs, confident with the sound and, perhaps for the first time, at peace that the unique place they inhabit in the citadel of modern music is the right place and truly theirs.

Sprinkled throughout the set, principally made up of World Service material, were a number of older tunes carefully picked and delightfully diverse in their pairing. Bicycle Gasoline rubbed airwaves with King of Fools, while I Could Sing of Your Love Forever slipped in between the staccato rhythms of Bliss, reminding listeners quite what a magnificent and consistent body of songs the band have produced over the years. Musically the band delivered, aided by Paul Burton's able front of house mixing, proving what a great combination the two parties have always made.

The band have constantly trod the fine line between gut-crunching rock and roll and majestic adoration. But with the World Service album they have perhaps settled on a material that most fully reflects and reconciles their different sides. Watching the crowd, young and old, this peculiar yet wonderful mixture was reflected in their myriad responses bearing testament to what a unique but incredibly significant enigma Delirious really are.

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