AUSTIN, TX- Florence + the Machine never fails to astonish sonically and visually with Florence Welch’s remarkably expressive voice carrying through various sweeps of emotions effortlessly.
The evening was filled with surprises and joyful moments and was wonderfully lead-off by the multi-talented Yves Tumor and Its band. For a while now, Tumor has developed from their dark/ambient previous works and become a flamboyant rock star with unrivaled showmanship. An act to not miss. Tumor’s set began with “The Asymptotical World” and navigated ‘Heaven To A Tortured Mind’ with favorites like “Gospel for a New Century” and “Kerosene!”, “Safe in the Hands of Love” and “Licking An Orchid “amongst others.
Whether the audience was familiar with Tumor’s discography or not, it was almost impossible for the crowd to not engage with the set.
Nick Cave and Julia Jacklin were played between sets before Florence hit the stage adorned by massive floating chandeliers while looking like a Victorian painting in motion.
I’ve been familiar with Florence + The Machine since the MySpace era and I’ve adored every release and her evolution as a writer, dancer, and creative in various fields. Her subject matter has matured and so has the creative visual direction, but her delicate, yet indomitable presence has always been fully realized.
The set started with “Heaven Is Here” and “King” from her latest and fifth studio album Dance Fever, both of which are deep explorations on identity, one’s desires, and gender roles as well in her own words “a clamour of joy, fury, and grief.”
The majority female and queer audience were engrossed with every pounding note of the opening songs.
Through the nearly two-hour performance, Welch’s slim figure was jumping and incessantly dancing across the stage with fiery long hair flowing; we experienced a “just like the record” execution of some of the band’s most beloved singles, “Dogs Days Are Over”, “Cosmic Love”, “Hunger”, “Big God” and one of my favorite early period songs “Kiss With A Fist”. A few favorites were left out, even though the new album was prioritized.
“Never Let Me Go” began the encore after Welch spoke to the crowd about this being her first tour in a long time to include the song in the set due to the tumultuous period it represented for her.
“Shake it Off” and “Rabbit Heart” closed the evening.
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