âSunday, slow but steady,â Orlando Weeks remarks on the final night of his UK tour. He seems almost impressed that people have sacrificed the chance of an early night before the working week to watch him perform. As it happens, fans of the former Maccabees frontmanâs work have had little opportunity to hear songs from his debut album âA Quickeningâ (2020) and its 2022 follow-up âHop Upâ live due to the pandemic. And so a seated show at the Barbican in fact suits a Sunday â relaxed and comfortable â and allows fans to fully absorb the music.
Crystal-clear sound levels, starry light designs and liquified motion graphics are a boon tonight for Weeksâ stunning mood music. His are songs to be transported by: dreamy, supple and texturally rich. Live, theyâre lifted by his flawless falsetto and an excellent troupe of backing musicians (including William Doyle aka East India Youth). As colourful blobs morph on the back screen youâre reminded of early childhood and the discovery of new shapes and sounds. There must be intent in the design. Weeks has based many of his songs on the anticipation of parenthood (âA Quickeningâ) while extolling its joys and reimagining the world through his young sonâs eyes on âHop Upâ.
Weeks takes us on his albumsâ journeys, from the gentler brass-inflected ditties of âA Quickeningâ during the setâs first half to the kinetic pulses of âHop Upâ in the second. âBlood Sugarâ is more impressive live than on record. Pitch-perfect harmonies thread between the musicians while militant drums thrum and reverb-laden brass crafts spectral echoes. Later, Weeks introduces âMilk Breathâ as âa lullabyâ, although it has the opposite effect by visibly stirring the crowd. Looping keys and a droning bass encircle its âmy sonâ refrain as beats build to an extended, dizzying climax.
âHey You Hop Upâ really marks where Weeks comes into his own, picking up a small acoustic guitar which finally gives him something to do with his hands. Until now weâve seen him swing them by his side in a somewhat awkward, on-the-spot pantomime walk. Perhaps itâs evidence of his much-publicised reluctant frontman status. But here, his fidgety energy is channelled beautifully into the strumming, backed by snappy rim-tap rhythms and woodwind FX for an at once taut and free-flowing performance. âBiggerâ hears Weeks play the harmonica top-line dextrously over prog-meets-yacht-rock grooves, with the band again letting loose to a thrilling outro.
âThereâs a certain kind of pressure in building up to this night,â Weeks says, noting live musicâs protracted COVID hiatus. But he concludes that âitâs a joy â it isnât to be underestimatedâ. The ensuing standing ovation is surely the measure of that.
Orlando Weeks played:
âTakes A Villageâ
âSummer Clothesâ
âBlood Sugarâ
âNone Too Toughâ
âMilk Breathâ
âHey You Hop Upâ
âSafe In Soundâ
âDeep Down Way Outâ
âLook Whoâs Talking Nowâ
âWay To GOâ
âBig Skies, Silly Facesâ
âHigh Kickingâ
âBiggerâ
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