Cloud Control's début album Bliss Release won the Australian Music Prize, and they've supported bands of the calibre of Deerhunter, Arcade Fire and The Foo Fighters. The Australian music scene is strong at present, and I've been greatly enjoying the likes of Boy and Bear, The Jezabels and Gypsy and The Cat. Furthermore, this gig was at my favourite venue in Manchester, and I described Cloud Control's set at the Reading Festival in August as one of my discoveries of the weekend. So what went wrong?
My last gig from The Civil Wars was utterly sublime, and whilst I'd been spoilt, I wasn't expecting this evening to reach those emotional depths. The first support band though were a train wreck, and at one point, faced with technical problems, it looked unlikely they'd be able to battle through to the end of their set. The capacity crowd had already been kept waiting outside whilst an sound check went on for an hour, and by the time the second support act came on stage, patience was wearing thin. This duo were at least able to string some sort of show together, but weren't able to command attention. Towards the end, the lead singer remonstrated with someone near the front for being disrespectful for texting on their phone during the performance, receiving the inevitable reply that they weren't worth listening to.
The relationship with your audience is so important, and Cloud Control themselves could've done more to gain empathy. Being so late, and delivering a short set (40 minutes plus one encore) at this sold out gig didn't help, but the main issue was that they failed to resolve sound problems during that interminable wait. I noticed complaints about distortion on Twitter after the performance, and this helped to explain why a talented band received a less than rapturous reception. It was ambitious to play Radiohead and Arcade Fire through the PA just before they came on stage, and the atmosphere in the Music Hall failed to come to life.
The musicianship was also frustratingly uneven: if you listen to my video of Ghost Story you will detect real spirit and drive, yet in Death Cloud the singing is flat, and the playing uninvolved and depressing. My overwhelming impression from Cloud Control at Reading was of an upbeat performance with a sense of space, yet here it felt claustrophobic and failed to take flight. I expected my critique to be that it was lyrically simplistic yet catchy and full of hooks, but in fact I would've welcomed more Australian sunshine.
Cloud Control play harder and louder live than on their album, with more fuzz, which in numbers like Gold Canary paid off, but there needs to be solid technique behind it. In music, conveying emotions should be paramount, but the foundations such as pitch need to be in place first. Some have compared Cloud Control to Fleet Foxes due to their use of three and four part vocal harmonies, and the influence of the landscape of The Blue Mountains. Their execution is not as pure as the Seattle group though, and they lack a sense of serenity and feeling of timelessness. Despite this, I know from my experience that they're capable of staging a compelling show, and wonder if they've been touring for too long, and are simply exhausted. They're reported to be working on their second album, and I hope they can get some time away from their new London base to be refreshed by the natural beauty of their homeland.
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