And your ears shall hear…

It’s hard for me to say anything bad about the performance given by Florence and the Machine at House of Blues recently.  The only thing I will say is that I was hoping for something a little more upbeat.  That energy that I was looking for was there towards the end, and finally reached a plateau, as we were walking out of the building.  She finished with “You’ve Got The Love,” and “Raise It Up (Rabbit Heart)” both of which rocked the audience.  People were jumping around and singing, and left the show feeling good.  Florence has an amazing voice that could cut glass, or lull a baby to sleep, but I would say they decided to have her do the latter, as the rest of the bands’ sound was very tame.  A few songs in she broke out “Kiss With A Fist,” but you wouldn’t gather that she was singing about a knock-down, drag out relationship, as the song lacked punch.  On the record, the guitars are up front, and Florence really lets loose over a chunky guitar riff.  In concert, it never quite reached that level of intensity, as you could barely hear that driving guitar.  I had read another review of this show where they said Florence and the Machine were playing a type of “Baroque Pop,”  and I would agree with that take to a certain extent.  But, I was hoping that a live set would really flesh out some of the quieter tunes, making them rockers.  Florence is a tall, red-headed, gorgeous woman, and her voice is in line with that.  Maybe over time and touring, things will change, and the songwriting will propel the band to new heights.  They did sound really good overall, I just pictured things a little different live.  They do have a harp player, and it really worked on some of the songs, but this type of instrument can’t cut sound the same way as an electric guitar might, so maybe that had an effect on the live sound.  Highlights of the show also, included the beautiful sounding “Lungs,” and closer to the end of set they completely nailed “Dog Days Are Over!”  “Dog Days” sounded top-notch, which had me wondering why it took so long to bring this intensity to the show?  I did leave this show with a good feeling, but I also left wanting more.  I have to be honest with my feelings, and this is how I felt; though I must admit I formed a gigantic crush on Mrs. Welch by nights end.

Florence and the Machine “Kiss With A Fist (Acoustic)

This version has the intensity I was looking for, and this is acoustic…