Twin Shadow at Dingwalls, Camden, London, 4th July 2012

Through the power of Facebook, came the word that Twin Shadow were touring and soon to play Camden Town. As mentioned in my first blog, these guys were one of the original bands I discovered through Spotify. In fact I found them through the 'related artists' link whilst listening to Twin Sister, although from what I can gather, the only thing they have in common is the 'Twin'. Anyway, it worked out well, because their debut album 'Forget' is another favourite of mine.

Now, I snapped up a ticket two whole months before the gig, with little consideration of whether I'd be financially stable enough to afford another expensive excursion to London after a May stag weekend in Majorca, and two friends' weddings in late June - one of them 500 miles away in Glasgow. My bank balance was less than stable. Anyway, I'd bought my ticket, so I was going, that was certain.

Twin Shadow at Dingwalls, Camden Lock, London, 4th July 2012

I had some trouble locating Dingwalls. It was tucked away on the lower Middle Yard of Camden Lock. A typically 1970s underground club, you are presented with two huge, worn out, black wooden doors, which opened out into a small concert venue. It was 8:00pm, and Twin shadow were due on in 90 minutes, during which time there was a nondescript DJ set of pop and RnB. As 9:30 approached the place became much more busy, with people eventually crammed into every corner. 15 minutes later than scheduled, Twin Shadow emerged from the, erm... shadows. The band immediately opened up with 'Slow', with all the grandeur and enthusiasm you'd expect from from George Lewis Jr and his band. Such a cool trio, although no one could out-cool Mr. Ice himself.

The performance was great, although I must admit to not recognising all of the songs straight away, as sometimes the instruments just drowned one another out from the sheer noise. After performing three tracks, which included 'Tyrant Destroyed', which was one of my favourites off the debut album, they took a moment to talk to the crowd, as bands usually do, I've found. After the usual 'thanks for coming out' speech, George went on to explain that they had just finished their tour of Scandinavia, and then carried on to say that the people of Scandinavia were "better looking" than us, but we rock out more. Way to win over your audience, George! However, coolness prevailed, and it seemed nothing he could say would stop our appreciation, even after the Anglo-American 4th of July history lesson which followed.

My highlights were 'Tyrant Destroyed', 'Castles in the Snow', and the amazing 'Forget'. There was a great moment near the end when Mr. Lewis explained that during the lack lustre visit to Scandinavia, they had lost heart slightly, but seeing us Brits appreciate the music as we did, gave them new inspiration to carry on. All in all it was a fantastic performance, and I wish I'd fought to get to the front where the animated fans were, instead of allowing myself to be pushed to the sidelines, as I did.