Fresh from the dizzy heights of Glastonbury, Battles return to Birmingham for a much anticipated experience. After receiving mixed responses from their latest album, expectations were a little unhinged, yet it wasn’t long before a wealth of rapture hit all four walls of the venue in clear-cut impact.
The ever-evolving Africastle brought progressive build-ups of orchestral waves, teasing fans into awaiting frenzies, as John Stanier broke through tensions with his euphoric beats.
Triumphant crashes drained the crowd into dancing deliriums, as Stanier stole the audience and kept them hooked on every tap and thud.
While Inchworm carried on with John’s ecstasy plays, this time fuelled by William’s and Konopka’s alien keyboard and guitar effects, trickling against a racing thunderstorm of chaos.
Though the realms of experimentalism were not limited to the boundaries of album number two, as each song oozed over the edges in a whole new depth and warmth, sky-rocketing Gloss Drop into life through vibrant, violent tatters.
My Machines fused hard rock with avant-tipples, as Stanier’s thump-hitting aggression shook the ground into disorder once again, supported by a creepy hologram of Gary Newman, enlightening an otherworldly encounter.
An experience that would carry on through Roll’s Boyce, which presented a trippy amusement-ride affair for those space-ridden in gazing wonder.
Highly entrancing, Battles exhaust their fans into oddball confusions that bask in progressive rock, exhuming electro-dance and ever astounding personal-remixes.
If the new album is not quite what you were expecting, be sure to catch Battles live to enter a new cultural explosion.
Words: Ross Cotton
Images: Katja Ogrin
Area Culture Guide 