By James Murphy
A week before Christmas, Hindley Street Music Hall was treated to more Royal Blood than in an episode of Game of Thrones, as the UK duo rocked a sold-out Tuesday night crowd in support of new release, Back to the Water Below.
Since their debut in 2012, when they were based in Australia, Royal Blood have shown that less can be more and that limitations can breed invention, as they’ve shirked the guitar, bass, drums mould, opting for a unique twist on drums and bass instead. Vocalist and bassist Mike Kelly and drummer Ben Thatcher are positioned on equals on stage, with Ben’s kit parallel to Mike’s mic. The bond between the pair is palpable; after a vigorous skin beating song, Mike declares that Ben’s “fit as a fiddle”, as he checks his bandmate’s forehead for sweat before joking that he’s “dry as a bone”.
While Royal Blood rocketed up the charts with minimal instrumentation with their 2014 self-titled album, which featured Ben’s drums and Mike’s bass pedal manipulated bass on mega-hits ‘Figure it Out’. ‘Out of the Black’, ‘Lights Out’ and ‘Lil Monster’, 2021’s Typhoon and this year’s Back to the Water has added layers of complexity to the band’s white-knuckle sound with the addition of Darren James, who Mike calls a “wizard”, on keys and backing vocals.
Tracks like Typhoon’s ‘Trouble’s Coming” are equally home on the dance floor as in the mosh pit, while new single ‘Shiner in the Dark’ blends Mike’s driving bass with synth chords and a RnB crooning chorus. Mike’s lyrics still hint at a swirling inner torment: on Typhoons, he sings “my thoughts becoming parasites, that live to keep me terrified” while in a rare sombre moment on new track ‘Waves”, he pleads “don’t let me choke like I’m nothing to save”. On this night, though, the band was riding the waves, like the vaping crowd surfers at the front. For one of the three tracks in the encore, the band was joined by Chris from the shredding support from WA, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, who wasted little time with chat in a frenetic opening set in their first visit to Adelaide in many years.
With their latest release and tour, the Blood will continue to reign, as they evolve their sound slightly while never leaving old fans behind.
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