The Joy Formidable - HMV Forum, London - 14th October 2011 (Live Review)
Monday, 24 October 2011
Written by Matthew Williamson
You’d be forgiven for thinking that The Joy Formidable have more than a single album. This year has been absolutely massive for the trio. For most bands it takes years of graft and torment to reach the venue for tonight’s performance, The HMV Forum in Kentish Town. After opening the mainstage at the Reading and Leeds festivals during summer they’ve now packed out all available space inside tonight’s auditorium.
And So I Watch You From Afar are onstage as we arrive at the venue. The Northern Irish post-rock band are slowly building up a devout following. There’s head bobbing from front to the back. As ‘hit’ single, if they had one, ‘Set Guitars To Kill’ draws the set to a close it’s a clear indication of a band that can write fucking good rock songs.
As the first bars of ‘A Heavy Abacus’ ring out into the hall there is an obvious lifting in the audience and the ever-smiling Ritzy Bryan does nothing but help the spirits, bounding around the stage bearing her teeth to all. The set has a massive lighthouse at the back of the stage, with a little ship’s wheel strung to the microphone stand.
The massive sound that The Joy Formidable have on record translates amazingly well to their live show. The introduction into ‘Austere’ has the entire crowd singing along, even before Bryan’s ready. ‘Cradle’ and ‘Buoy’ are huge before ‘I Don’t Want To See You Like This’ gets one of the bigger sing-a-longs.
The set ends with, of course, ‘Whirring’. It’s a track that even if you haven’t ever physically sat down to listen to it you’ll have heard it blaring from a radio, or backing a television programme. As it hits halfway point it dips before slowly building up over the next five minutes to a cacophony of epic proportions.
The band troop back on stage for a couple of extra songs. Penultimate track, ‘Greyhounds in the Slips’, was given away by the band as a free download before they close with the opening track of ‘The Big Roar’, ‘The Everchanging Spectrum of Life’. It sums up the night perfectly, there’s the soft, the heavy, and the absolutely epic.
The Joy Formidable spent a couple of years just honing their sound, and by the sound of tonight, it's worked perfectly. Combine that with Bryan’s winning smile and energy and there’s a recipe for success.
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The massive sound that The Joy Formidable have on record translates amazingly well to their live show. The introduction into ‘Austere’ has the entire crowd singing along, even before Bryan’s ready. ‘Cradle’ and ‘Buoy’ are huge before ‘I Don’t Want To See You Like This’ gets one of the bigger sing-a-longs. 
