I've seen Bicep DJ sets before and they've been very much enjoyable but nothing I've wanted to go crazy about - the thought of a live show was much more exciting to me. The album has a consistent sound and yet variation in mood enough to create highs and lows in the set. As I'll explain later, this definitely turned out to be the case. We arrived just in time to catch the beginning of the performance, and there was a general murmur of excitement running through the crowd. Which, by the way, was massive, and the way Printworks is laid out boxes you in under such a high ceiling that the crowd seems even more intense.
They opened with 'Orca' - first song on the album, pretty straightforward choice. It was built up really effectively to bring us in and get us hyped for the show before dropping the bass heavy. Their 3-bicep logo was pulsating on the screens behind them and the ground was shaking. Truly captivating opening. I think 'Metro' came next - my memory is a little fuzzy here so can't say much - but 'Rain' was the next huge tune. I've mentioned it before in this blog and it is without a doubt one of my favourite tracks from the duo. The crowd mentality was superb, it was almost like the rails up the walls around us were shaking with the rhythm. The light show onstage during this was particularly impressive - as well as the general geometric patterns, flashes of light would fade in and across the screen; visually mesmerising, acoustically brilliant.
Suddenly, we move into the Bicep remix of Isaac Tichauer's 'Higher Level', and the cold blue-green tones onstage flash into a passion of red and orange. It's like heat has been turned up on the gig, and at the same time it's refreshing to move into a remix from pure album content. It's raw and blunt in its sound and approach, I feel like the intensity levels at this point in the show were at their highest. With this being the case, it was then an effective transition to move into 'Just', returning the lighting to crisp dark blues as the robotic synth melodies echo around the dark, old printing house. I really enjoyed this one as I think the acoustics of the venue worked so well with the music and the ease off on intensity was peng after the last track.
Next came 'Opal', which was likely one of the most anticipated numbers. It delivered for sure, there's no way this banger couldn't slap. The rotating biceps came back on to the screen and everyone was singing along, how lovely. I thought that I would be wanting Four Tet's remix, being such a fanboy, but I actually really liked that they kept mainly to the original; it reminded me how great it is stand-alone anyway. They also took it down a heavy techno route towards the end which was GREAT, as gritty as you could ask for. 'Dahlia' featured with some pretty cool light shows on the back wall of the hall - again Printworks as a venue making the gig even greater. 'Aura' was another crowd pleaser that they smashed it with - what a tuuuuune. I've actually got to include footage of the drop here because it was so perfect - enjoy with my very own complimentary 'oi oiiii' lol:
So sick, no? I just find the melody of this track so hypnotising and with the lasers and deafening live bass it was insane. The next few tracks similarly carried the atmosphere high and maintained the overall effect the show had seamlessly. Musically, 'Vale' was probably the most enjoyable here, it has that sound that makes you drift up and away with the vibrations. It was fresh to have some lyrical emphasis as well. The music ultimately seemed to come to a finish and the stage went dark. You heard mumblings around you as people wondered if it had finished when the vocal sample of 'Glue' began to leak out from the speakers. Obviously, everyone loved it; this was the clear closing choice and a fantastic encore. The lighting was just beautiful, with an array of rainbow colour choices on the screens and with the lasers, there was a strong sense of goodbye in the track. It left me feeling satisfied with the show and got the biggest cheer out of the crowd at the end!
So, overall Bicep's live show was without a doubt enjoyable and some of the highlights really hit home for me. At the same time, I have to say that it didn't really surprise me. There weren't any track choices that caught me off guard and I think it was essentially a showcase of the album with a few other big tunes scattered in. I'm sure this was what most people were wanting, so it definitely kept us happy, and I definitely have a sense now that I've seen Bicep live, but I would have loved a moment where a mix of two songs left me mouth open. Maybe an obscure track choice or a big track from another artist. I just feel like that would have made it feel more performance-heavy, if that makes sense. With that said, I do think that the lighting and adaption to the venue were effortlessly well executed, 10/10 for that. Thank you for such a great show, Bicep, and can't wait until the next time!
