Review of Miracle Bell at The Academy 2
Review by Deirdre Harrison
Photos by Kate Turner
I often wonder if bands pick a bad support act on purpose to make themselves look better, when Shouting at Planes supported Miracle Bell in the Academy 2 this was the exact thought running through my mind. Due to a mix up I unfortunately missed opening act Meles Méles, however from what I have heard they put on a great show.
I’m at a loss as to how to describe Shouting at Planes. Perhaps the best I can do is this, think Nickleback with an occasional saxophone and trumpet. The group’s first singer attempted to gain the attention of the crowd by randomly shouting “Yeehaw” and every now and again screaming “Miracle Bell! Yeah!” One can only assume he did this to remind us their set would be over soon and we would finally see the headliners. For the third song a second singer took over vocal duties and it was a relief, with a voice similar to Alex Band of The Calling the song was also an improvement on the previous offerings. The issue with Shouting at Planes is I don’t think they know themselves what genre they are aiming for. While I think it is a good thing for musicians not to feel boxed into a particular genre, Shouting at Planes seemed to try too hard to play too many styles and just ended up all over the place. As my friend said, “It’s not that they’re bad musicians, they’d make a good wedding band playing covers of other people’s songs.” A statement I felt summed them up perfectly.
Before coming on stage I worried that Miracle Bell may have felt the effects of playing on the same night, in the same building as new indie heavy weights, The Vaccines. However the crowd filled the floor in the minutes before their performance. Having never seen them before I really didn’t quite know what to expect.
Opening with “Love Sounds” I wasn’t sure if it was a brave move or a foolish decision to open with their best known song. The track was met with rapturous cheering and equally energetic dancing and singing along from the crowd. Something about the band led to an infectious feeling of fun amongst everyone present. It soon became clear that opening with their best known song was in fact a very smart move; the energy of the crowd from that point never dwindled.
Playing songs from their album “Light Shape Sound”, the crowd joined in for every word of every song as if it was their own personal anthem. The band even treated us to a fantastic song we were informed just missed out on being on the album and a cover of the Pat Benatar hit “Love is a Battlefield”. Miracle Bell really made it their own playing with as much passion and energy as they did with their own compositions.
Moving on to their single “Future Kings”, lead singer Dave Prendergast began to beat a cowbell as if his life depended on it. Later Prendergast apologises to the crowd for his vocal as his is suffering from a throat infection, something I doubt anyone in the crowd even noticed as he appeared so flawless. Before leaving the stage for the encore the crowd are thanked and invited back to the Workman’s Club to celebrate, really it should have been us thanking Miracle Bell for their performance.
I can honestly say I haven’t enjoyed seeing an Irish band for the first time that much in years. I left the Academy 2 smiling and wanting more. Miracle Bell have proved they are an unmissable live act and I urge everyone to see them live as soon as possible.
