Its that time of year! The Nme Tour has been back driving around the UK stopping at the main cities unleashing new acts upon our eardrums as well as some familiar names, and with 2010's line-up the anticipation outside the venue was immense. With The Big Pink as the main exception, the bands have hardly any wide variation between the sound of their music but put together do they leave you loving the state of the indie scene right now or will it, as The Drums put it, 'All End In Tears'.
You may or may not of heard of The Drums, though if you haven't - where have you been? They are, according to nearly every new music poll, one of the bands of 2010. Their 2009 EP 'Summertime' created a storm of excitement around the industry in the uk and in the usa (their home country). This is reflected in the publicity that has gathered around them, and rightly so. However, their live set just doesn't seem there yet. Stereotypically indie looking singer Jonathan Pierce motions the drum beats in the air with his fist, fidgeting somewhat awkwardly around the stage, as another member jumps around manically with a tambourine - it all seems slightly disorganised. But as they get used to the success and play more shows I am sure the faults will be easily ironed out leaving a great band that is a breath of fresh air to the indie scene.
The Big Pink were that fresh air tonight though, stealing the show from the indie kids with their huge electro beats. The set was amazing, and Rock City the perfect venue for the band. The problem is, without having a copy of nme to tell them what to think of the band, quite a few of the crowd just didn't appreciate the sight they were seeing, wanting to and I quote - have them "get it over with and play dominos". The Big Pink, with such a tight live presence - even having only been signed for one year, look extremely likely to be one of the massive bands of the next few years, and then and only then will those from the crowd realise how lucky they were to witness such a band on the nme tour.
Bombay Bicycle Club have not had success as quickly as The Big Pink. They have been gigging and recording ever since winning the 'Road To V' competition back in 2006, but having only left school in 2008 their debut album was released last year. The songs from it formed the basis of tonight's set and the crowd lapped them up. The problem is the band, after their experiences within the touring environment, have developed a pretentious attitude towards performing and a hint of laziness due to it. However, the music is perfect and the crowd love them so perhaps they're right to be pretentious.
The headline act of this years tour was The Maccabees who played a full set consisting of classics and a fantastic cover of Orange Juice's 'Rip It Up'. To those who have seen them before and those seeing them for the first time, they are spotless but they do not really offer something totally unique, something that shouts out We Are The Maccabees at the top of their voices...but with the Nottingham crowd they don't need it.
The crowd were won over from the moment the doors opened, the anticipation that lingered was met but instead of The Maccabees it was The Big Pink who were the stars of the show. Showing something different in such an indie based music scene, it is these that will be mentioned as the big stars who once performed on the small nme tour.
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