Tonight was the turn of Brighton rock duo Royal Blood at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC).
Mike and Ben started the show with their single Lights Out from their second album How Did We Get So Dark. They then continued playing more tracks from that album and from their self titled debut album.
I loved all the improvisation pieces between and during songs. My highlight was Ben’s extended solo drumming during Little Monster. I think he was out-doing other best-loved drummers including Dave Grohl (Nirvana), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Dominic Howard (Muse), Rodger Taylor (Queen), Ringo Starr (The Beatles) & Phil Collins (Genesis) to name a few. I can definitely see him joining the group of greatest drummers very soon.
I have to admit I was disappointed with the climax of the performance. They closed the show with Out Of The Black, which is a great track. But I felt the final section did drag on a bit. We all felt the closing stages were coming, then Mike would strum another note. I would have preferred they close with Figure It Out.
And finally, I want to give a big shout out to whoever was doing their lighting. There were so many different shapes, sizes, speeds, colours and patterns. It all looked incredibly artistic and the timing was perfection!
