[ATTENDED: January 24, 2020] Temples [rescheduled from November 10, 2019]
Temples were supposed to play Union Transfer back in November. For some reason, their show was moved to this month and moved from Union Transfer to The Foundry (this is quite surprising considering one venue is a Live Nation property and the other isn’t). In fact even though my Union Transfer ticket was honored, I had to go through a rather laborious process to get it switched to an official Live Nation ticket (glad I got there early).
I’m still not sure why the show was moved or why it was downgraded to a much smaller venue because Temples was fantastic and the fans were totally into it.
I loved Temples’ first album and hadn’t quite realized that they’d put out two albums since that one. Their new sound is a bit more keyboardy/dancey instead of the big retro sound of the first album. But the overall vibe (and excellent riffmaking) hasn’t changed from album to album.
Lead singer/guitarist James Bagshaw is a great presence up there under his curly hair. He was very funny but also commanding of our attention.
They opened with “The Howl,” the stomping lead rack from their new album Hot Motion, and I was thrilled at how much it sounded like the album–that simple but effective riff and that terrific guitar sound were captured perfectly. But it also didn’t feel by-the-numbers. In fact, Bagshaw had some kind of technical problem after the song which delayed the second song a bit, but which certainly didn’t ruin the flow.
They wound up playing 7 songs from the new album and seven songs from their debut. Their middle album, Volcano only received two songs. But the second song of the night was from it.
Once again I was delighted with how great the song sounded–they replicated “Certainty“‘s cool echoing lead guitar riff perfectly. I also loved a part later in the song that I’d obviously heard a bunch of times but never realized how nice it was to have the guitar to do a little low riff in the middle of the verse.
I was in front of Adam Thomas Smith on rhythm guitar and keyboards. He held down multiple responsibilities as he also sang backing vocals and played harmony guitar riffs along with Bagshaw.
For the third song they moved back to their debut for the title track, “Sun Structures.” Even though the new songs have a different style, the older ones retained their interesting Indian/echoing sound and great time changes. This was a terrific trip of opening songs.
As was the problem all night I couldn’t see bassist Tom Warmsley on the far side of the stage, but his bass lines are essential to the whole sound.
I hadn’t listened to the new album all that much before the show and really loved “You’re Either On Something” (or you’re on to something) which sounded a bit like Mew with Bagshaw’s surprising falsetto working very well. It was soaring and fantastic.
I enjoyed they way they wove the old songs with the new ones, following Sun Structures‘ “Colours to Life” with Hot Motions‘ “Holy Horses.” During “Horses,” Bagshaw climbed down off the stage to stand in front of the fans (you can hear the screams on this clip). It seemed like Bagshaw wanted to wander around a bit more but he always had to get back to the microphone to keep singing.
Bagshaw said that anyone who could shout the name of the next song would get a small prize. They started “Hot Motion” and people shouted out the song title. When the song was over the prize was a bottle of “vodka” (water) from his amp. But he couldn’t determine who had said it first–“it was one person you couldn’t have all said it.” I’m not sure if the right person got the water but it was fun fan interaction.
They played two more new songs, including the “Context” with yet another terrific riff. Bagshaw is awesome at writing simple but super catchy melodies.
I had noticed that recent press photos showed the band as a trio. Evidently the previous drummer left at the end of last year (maybe that’s why they postponed?). New drummer Rens Ottink was fantastic. He and Smith seemed to share a bunch of jokes throughout the night which was fun to see.
“Keep in the Dark” from the debut has a fantastic chorus and more unusual guitar sounds–Bagshaw and Smith switched to different guitars throughout the set.
They ended the set with “Shelter Song” which is the the first Temples song I’d heard and I loved it instantly–the echoing guitar, the backing vocals the strange sort of resemblance to “Tax Man” by The Beatles. I was thrilled by how great it sounded live. I really enjoyed watching Smith and Warmsley singing the backing vocals by standing a bit away from the microphones to create a cool echoing effect.
The band left for an encore break and came back with the fantastic “Mesemerise” yet one more song with a super catchy chorus and a fantastic main guitar riff. The song turned into a lengthy jam that was really fun. Bagshaw was all over the place with his soloing. The whole band seemed to enjoy stretching out and jamming a bit.
It was a fantastic show, delay or not, and I’m so glad I got to see them.
SETLIST
The Howl ™
Certainty ∇
Sun Stryctures §
You’re Either on Something ™
Colours to Life §
Holy Horses ™
The Golden Throne §
Oh the Saviour ∇
Hot Motion ™
The Beam ™
Context ™
Keep in the Dark §
Atomise ™
Shelter Song §
encore
Mesmerize §
§ Sun Stryctures (2014)
∇ Volcano (2017)
™ Hot Motion (2019)
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