Declan McKenna at O2 Academy Bournemouth (14.4.2024) with Wunderhorse supporting.
My first Declan McKenna encounter was in the Glastonbury June sunshine, 2022, led by my wife and our friend (Ann P) who had heard of him, to The Other Stage. We sat in our camping chairs with pint cartons of chilled white wine, around lunchtime (if we have ‘lunchtime’ at festivals). The songs were original and varied and he was putting in a shift and grabbing attention. I think the surroundings influenced me.
It was Glastonbury where he appeared in 2015, winning an emerging talent competition.
When his Bournemouth gig was mentioned I thought, go on then – tickets bought – I’ll give it a go – a bit of pre-gig ‘revision’ with top picks and latest album, What Happened to the Beach, on Spotify. I was still wondering if this was the right thing. Still, it’s local and I like the venue. More on the 02 Academy Bournemouth on this link.
I’m a bit the worse for wear after standing for five hours plus at The Vive Le Rock Magazine Awards event two days before, in Islington – great night that was with sets by Theatre of Hate, Ruts DC and Sham 69 and a range of appearances with the Vive Le Rock band for the evening. Hence I was relieved to find ‘The Gods’ open up the top of the O2 Academy Bournemouth, after a swift entry via the O2 phone contract queue jumping line – it doesn’t seem fair breezing passed a queue stretching a quarter of a mile down the road.
What I did find a few days before the gig was that a band called Wunderhorse were supporting. Playing their first album, Cub (2022), I realised that this lot were a band for me – I loved it, first hearing.
Lead singer, Jacob Slater sounds almost Lou Reed-like, hampered it seems by his ailing throat. He mentions this but the sound is still good. A few songs sound a bit early and earthy REM; shades of the solid rocky sounds of the likes of The Gaslight Anthem. Americana indeed.
The downstairs was packed. I’d already figured out I was just about the oldest person in the place – not just old enough to be mistaken for a supervising parent but possibly grandparent. Even for Wunderhorse they were singing all the words to a few songs.
Whether its Slater’s throat or just time pressures as support slot, they only do about five or six numbers. Although these were not, aside from Teal, on the album I’d been listening to, they offered familiar and appealing sounds. When they finished they were straight off. My first thought was when do I get to see them again then.
At a quarter to nine the mountainous backdrop is lit and one hell of a high pitched scream rises up from the crowd below – the screams tonight are louder than the music and demand the ear protective plugs for that alone. I can only remember McFly inducing such noises (I know, I’ve seen them twice somehow).
McKenna is something of a musical genius – he can play pretty much everything and does so on his albums, majoring on stage with guitar and keyboards. He dances around like a lad playing guitar in his bedroom – different styles come out, all with such enthusiasm – poppy, rocky, even glam – and matched every bit by the crowd. He really does look like he is enjoying himself massively onstage – no posing – no attitude – super lively. Complex guitar pedal arrangement, no doubt with baffling looping going on…..but he has the air of someone without a care in the World.
This was the last night of the tour and having played Ally Pally the night before it must have been a bit of a squeeze getting all those fake mountains onto the O2 Academy stage – unusual. This latest album is his third. He’s 25 and being writing songs for 10 years with the other two albums being released in 2017 and 2020. Nine tracks from the newest album tonight, interspersed throughout the set – the audience knew all the stuff anyway so no notable lulls for newer material.
The early part of the set had me bemused at times – I felt like I’d gate-crashed a student party – but the anthem of Brazil from his first album is quite irresistible (captured here on my zoom camera video: Brazil YouTube @grey-hairedgiggoer) (The Key to Life on Earth can also be found here, from earlier in the set).
As the steam heat rises from below (it’s not usually this warm in here) Declan McKenna’s jacket is eventually discarded. He leaps over for some songs at the piano – a bit calmer. With ten songs from the first two albums adding to the nine from the new one, there’s a good mix there which has sent everyone wild – I don’t feel involved in the wildness from my position up in the Gods but no way I was going down in there tonight.
After the main set he and the band return. He announces Paracetamol – quite apt as I’ve been popping a lot of those this weekend – from the first LP (What Do You Think About the Car?) and the first time they’ve played it on the tour. Then there is a new one, Phantom Buzz, before the 2019 song not on any albums: British Bombs. Dancing and jumping while singing the chorus of ‘Great Britain won’t stand for felons; Great British Bombs in the Yemen’, apparently written about the hypocrisy or the British arms trade.
Bit of an eye-opener this one. Maybe I strayed a little from my comfort zone but an enjoyable evening and an insight into some even younger appeal music than any others I have tried in recent years.
Gigs with Ivan 