Hometown glory: Tom Misch, Live in London
“Tom Misch is just Michael Buble for people who take ket and wear flares” is anonymously scrawled on an online forum for students. While this claim is meant to be cutting and defamatory, let’s assess it. Both are male, white, talented performers and wildly successful, with the ability to capture the cultural zeitgeist.
As for Misch’s fanbase, taking drugs and wearing flares, this is only partially true. Stepping into Brixton Academy the crowd is anything other than homogenous, though, there is an overwhelming number of younger fans not too surprising given Misch’s age and youthful charisma.
From the first note of opener "It Runs Through Me", the crowd sings along word for word. Despite remaining cool and collected throughout, it’s clear that this show means a lot to Misch and it should as it’s really a mean feat to sell out two nights at a 5,000 capacity venue so early in his career. Part of the cool demeanor comes from the fact that Misch surrounds himself with musicians he clearly trusts and who have been along with him the whole way, effectively treating each track like a jam session between old friends. The gig even turns into a family affair with guest appearances from his sisters, Laura and Polly, showing how talent clearly runs throughout the Misch family. Further surprise appearances from Poppy Ajudha, Zak Abel and Barney Artist kept the energy going, elevating the often breezy and mellow tracks even further.
The mean age of Misch’s fanbase is perhaps most evident when he asks ‘Does anybody like Outkast?’, before launching into a pitch perfect cover of "Prototype" off their 2003 double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Perhaps it was a little bit of a niche choice to some, however considering Misch’s musical influences this was perfect. Unfortunatel, this was peak toilet break time and many audience members missed what was arguably one of the highlights of Misch’s set. Their loss.
Regaining their support with fan favourites, such as "Lost in Paris" and "South of the River", the latter garnering a number of partial synchronised dance routines, rather impressive considering the venue was essentially at capacity.
With another night at Brixton Academy and the rest of his European tour to go, there’s nothing stopping Misch and his funky jazz-pop machine of a band.
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