It’s weird to think it, but Everything Everything are basically elder statesmen of their scene now. With their fourth album, ‘A Fever Dream’, currently riding high in the UK Album Charts, this isn’t their first bite at the festival cherry. Far from it. And it shows.
Never wilting wallflowers, tonight they’re a band with real vim and vigour in their stride. From new album opener ‘Night Of The Long Knives’ on, they match their oddball pop with genuine, assured confidence that they’ve got this. And boy, do they.
‘Desire’ already sounds like another classic from the Everything Everything vault, as does fellow recent addition ‘Can’t Do’. ‘Kemosabe’ and ‘Cough Cough’ feel like old friends, inspiring mass sing-a-longs – or as close as you can get, at least.
The beauty of Everything Everything is that they manage to belong without becoming just another face in the crowd. Playing in their own register, but never another language, when it comes to the higher reaches of a festival bill, they’re still quite probably the most exciting safe hands in the game.
Photos: Ryan Johnston / Dork