It’s a sign of good things to come when the two people next to you are having a dance off before the band starts. A few more follow their lead and don’t stop until Metronomy arrive on stage.
The band are their usual well-dressed selves and walk on stage to ‘The English Riveria’. The title track from the 2011 album is the perfect preview to ‘We Broke Free’ which gives us a chance to warm up before they launch into a set full of hits to make us dance.
‘Back On The Motorway’ is played early to a huge reception and is followed by ‘Holiday’. Joseph Mount’s vocals are lost at times during these tracks but are recovered for what seems to be the second half of the set, after they get the instrumental jams out of the way.
The energy they bring to stage is contagious and every hit they play reaches a new level of fun. The head-shaking, hip-popping dance combinations on the dance floor shows the band have connected and everyone is feeding off each other’s enthusiasm.
Popular singles ‘The Bay’ and ‘The Look’ are met with applause but it’s older hits ‘Heartbreaker’ and ‘A Thing For Me’ that really get everyone dancing. They introduce an acoustic guitar before ‘The Bay’ and ‘Mount’ assures us they haven’t become “twats” for needing it. He encourages us to boo before they bring it back for ‘Everything Goes My Way’, the song that sees drummer Anna Prior on lead vocals.
The band wrap up with ‘Some Written’ before playing ‘On Dancefloors’ and an electrifying version of ‘Radio Ladio’ for their encore. Bass guitar player Gbenga Adelekan is the one making the crowd move and with his encouragement, there are people fist pumping their way through the last chorus of “R A. D I. O… L A. D I. O…”
Metronomy’s performance at Manning Bar confirmed the hype surrounding ‘The English Riveria’ last year. They used their eccentricity to their advantage and delivered an unforgettable show.
Justine McNamara 