Clean Bandit at The Academy, Dublin on March 6th 2015

As The Academy slowly fills up, there is absolutely no way to pigeon hole the crowd attending tonight’s show. It is completely varied, all ages, genders and styles are present and accounted for. This leads to a great atmosphere, with the feeling that no matter what, this is going to be a good night. Dublin trio Dear Desert open tonight’s show with their mellow electronic set featuring harmonies, keyboards and impressive guitar and vocals. They get noticeably more comfortable as their set goes on, but this is probably also down to the fact that the venue is finally starting to look full.

Our headliner, Clean Bandit, arrive on stage.  At times they can resemble the likes of Rudimental whilst on stage, although there are technically only four members, the stage is more packed than that,. With guest vocalist Elisabeth Troy stealing the show from start with her stage presence, eyes only briefly turn to Clean Bandit, and often only in moments where one can’t help but notice violinist Milan Neil Amin-Smith’s odd and over the top dancing. Troy’s vocal range and attitude completely stands out and completely captures the crowd’s attention.

The lack of flair shown by Clean Bandit is noticeable in the crowd’s reaction and the general atmosphere of the concert. Although the set starts off with a bang with Dust Clears featuring early in the set and even new song Stronger getting the  crowd jumping, which can often be hard with never-before-heard material, this doesn’t last.

What is noticeable is how awkward the members of Clean Bandit are, Grace Chatto attempts looking cool and comfortable, but is comes across as try-hard and Amin-Smith although on the one hand has an almost likeable presence, but it also teeters on cringeworthy. Moreover, there is little to no interaction with the crowd, aside from a couple “How are we feeling, Dublin?”. There is a lack of personality in the show.

The music is the saving grace of the night. Despite some faults, the concert is enjoyable, the music impresses and no doubt shows that there is more to the band than ‘that one song you heard on the radio’. However time after time they are outshone by Elisabeth Troy, whose vocals and stage presence are superior to everything else seen tonight. So you could either think that this concert shows that Clean Bandit have a lot more to show than Rather Be, or you could think that Elisabeth Troy has a lot more to show than Clean Bandit.