The Notwist – ICA, London 05/06/08

After a 6 year wait, tonight is the night we welcome the return of The Notwist. A band who’ve made perhaps one of my favourite records in the shape of Neon Golden, and all geared and set up to promote their newest release The Devil, You + Me. You can’t help but feel the sense of excitement and anticipation in the crowd at the ICA as we wait for them to take to the stage.

And boy, did we wait? The wait I mean, is that the crowd are left to hang on a fair bit for the band, with no support act to open the evening even though it was listed. Curses. But not to worry. Tonight was all about The Notwist anyway. Just after the 9.30 mark, the band take to the stage to generous and loving applause which even they seem surprised by and played pretty much most of the new record, including the title track and a quite simply stunning goosebumps inducing version of ‘Gloomy Planets’. One of the real true gems from the album.After being a tad muted, perhaps due to the unfamiliar nature of the new material, the crowd seemed to warm up when they dropped the Neon Golden classics such as ‘Pick Up the Phone’ early on and ‘Pilots’. The latter showing just how perfectly they achieved in capturing a perfect blend of organic instruments and tools with electronic glitches, beats and noise. Sounding detached and cold sometimes but due to Markus Archer’s plaintive voice, it’s given a warm affection which you can’t help fall for. Even with the mid-song noise interlude which kicks back into the song like nothing happened sounds genius.

They band come back for a couple of encores after the strong demand and shouts from the crowd. You get the usual calls for songs. ‘Consequence!’, ‘Chemicals!!’ and one annoying guy who kept shouting for ‘Good Lies’, the lead track from the new album. Come on mate, be a little adventurous! I actually would’ve loved to have seen them play ‘Consequence’ but in the end, they opted for ‘Good Lies’ (Pah!), which achingly kept building and building and eventually crashed out and burned magnificently and was far more engaging live than the record.

One annoyance though, I did find the sound from PA system pretty awful, especially with the vocals, which is a crying shame as Archer’s voice is so integral to the enjoyment of the music. In fact, I think it’s the first time I’ve been disappointed with the ICA in that respect. Big shame but apart from that, the band still endeavour on and the evenings highlight is without a doubt their emotionally charged rendition of ‘One With the Freaks’. An unlikely loser anthem as the chorus asks “Have you ever been all messed up?” depicting beautifully and perfectly the end of a relationship. I also get the chills when I notice that there’s an echo going around the venue of people singing back, word for word, the lyrics. I think even the band seemed surprised and touched.

[Download The Notwist The Devil, You + Me]