Florence Welch confounds me. No really, she does. I went and saw Florence and the Machine at the Showbox on Thursday, not knowing at all what to expect. I stood in line with everyone who bought their tickets before the intimate club at Pike’s Place Market sold out. To sell out on a Thursday is pretty impressive. But I guess it’s an attest to the magnificence of Florence and the Machine’s debut album, last year’s Lungs, which topped the British charts, but didn’t get quite the following on this side of the pond.
New York natives Holy Hail opened the show, just slightly after 9 p.m., with a keen and enjoyable set. It was clear that everyone was there to see Florence, so the crowd’s response to Holy Hail wasn’t the most enthusiastic, but they were good warm up. The band, fronted by Cat Hartwell, held their own for the anxious crowd, playing songs off their 2008 album Independent Pleasure Club, and their other various EPs, as well as some new ones. “Riverine” stuck out to me, like a truly New Yorkian indie record, but with a hint of old west swagger. They graciously thanked the crowd for coming out that night, and Florence for taking them on tour, and stepped off stage at about 9:30. But that’s just a guess-timation.
After nearly an hour-long wait of reggae and old jazz playing on the loudspeakers, The Machine took the stage to some intense mood lighting, making way for Florence Welch’s grand entrance, starting off with a wicked version of “Howl.” She swayed around the stage, dressed in a lace afghan and blouse to match. Her blazing red hair glowed beneath the blue and yellow lights of the Showbox, and the crowd sang along right with her.
Why does Florence Welch confound me? Her performance persona is big and loud and powerful and grandiose, but her personality between songs could be described as nothing less than adorable. After a couple songs, she decided to go barefoot. She slipped off her heels and hopped around the stage before stepping back up to the mic. At that point the microphone sat right about at her eye level, and Florence declared, “I’m tiny.” To avoid sounding incredibly cliché, I’ll just let the irony of that statement sink in for now.
After singing her face off with “Between Two Lungs,” she grabbed a red plastic cup and straw and sipped it politely. Then she proceeded to explain that every time she gets one of those plastic cups, she gets, dare I say, a little tipsy. And then she giggled and said a quiet “Thank you, Seattle,” and introduced the next song. All the songs Florence played that night were off of Lungs, but “Hardest of Hearts” was the only one off the deluxe edition of the album. I happen to own the deluxe edition, so I was completely familiar with all the songs played that night. Evidently, everyone else knew the songs as well, because you couldn’t look around at any point and not see someone singing along with Florence
Seeing these songs live deepened my love for them, especially “Drumming Song” and “Cosmic Love,” where Florence beat on her own floor tom along with her band and let out this not-so-tiny (there’s the irony!) voice. Then in a haunting version of “Blinding,” one light backlit Florence while she wrapped herself up in the afghan like a child pretending to be ghost, and just like the song, Florence’s performance escalated into a powerful spectacle of awesome proportions.
Florence’s attitude while singing juxtaposed with her sweet disposition made the show all that more entertaining, because it proves how talented she really is. Her songs are epic and sexy, but she’s not a pretentious diva at all. She repeatedly thanked Seattle in her charming London accent and paused between songs to give her keyboard player a big hug. I couldn’t help but love her. I kind of wanted to be her best friend at that point.
The last song before the encore was – of course – “Dog Days are Over,” where everyone on the club instantly started dancing and singing along. I honestly feared for the life of my camera for a bit there, but it was so much fun. This one guy standing in front of me – who was about 5 inches taller than me – was absolutely nuts about Florence, as he started the clap-along before the encore at just about 11:30. A few minutes of badly timed “Florence! Florence! Florence!” later, Florence and her Machine walked back on stage. Acknowledged the energy of the crowd, she asked us – on this next song – to jump even more than we had been.
As I expected, they went right into “Kiss With a Fist,” which again sent the crowd into frenzy. We calmed down just a little after the short and energetic “Kiss With a Fist,” and Florence made one last request of us for “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up).” “When I do this,” and she shot her fist up in the air, “then you shout ‘raise it up!’” It was kind of magical how well it worked, because just like she asked, everyone not only shouted “raise it up,” but also shot their fists up in the air along with her.
Florence graciously bowed and thanked Seattle one last time before she and her band left the stage, and told everyone, “I’d love to come back if you’d have me.” The guy in front of me shouted, “We’d love to have you back!”
After that show, I was not opposed to the idea.
Set List:
1. Howl
2. My Boy Builds Coffins
3. Hurricane Drunk
4. Between Two Lungs
5. Hardest Of Hearts
6. Drumming Song
7. Cosmic Love
8. I’m Not Calling You A Liar
9. Blinding
10. You’ve Got the Love
11. Dog Days Are Over
Encore
12. Kiss With a Fist
13. Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)
