White Lies are one of those bands that don’t get enough appreciation from the music press (don’t worry lads, you are safe here though…) but the people who do were at the Roundhouse in Camden on a cold night to show theirs.
Kicking off the set was “To Lose My Life” from the 2009 album To Lose My Life… followed by “There Goes Our Love Again” from the new album, Big TV. Not only did the music wow the crowd but the impressive laser show would also play its part throughout the evening. “London, how you doing? I think we’ll have a good night tonight…” proclaimed lead singer Harry McVeigh. He wasn’t wrong as they blasted into “A Place To Hide” for the third song in the set. McVeigh was in fine form with a voice that will easily get the tag of “one of the best voices in rock” if it hasn’t already. He was equally aided and abetted by bassist Charles Cave and drummer Jack Lawrence-Brown. Another helping from Big TV came in the form of “Mother Tongue” for the fourth number with McVeigh shouting, “let me see your hands!” and the audience duly obliged. A slight faux pas between album title and song title saw “Streetlights” come into the set before crowd favourite “Farewell To The Fairground” got everyone clapping, jumping and singing along in unison, with McVeigh cupping his ears to lap the adulation of his faithful fans. “Be Your Man” was another helping of the latest material before “E.S.T” also made a welcome appearance. “The Power & The Glory”, from 2011’s Ritual album, was next up before we were getting even with “Getting Even.”
“And how is everybody getting on?” McVeigh asked politely. Everyone was doing pretty good and the band then burst into “Unfinished Business”, another corker from the first album. “Goldmine” soon followed after that before the band surprised everyone with an electro-rock cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U.” No purple lighting was done for that number. A couple of numbers from Big TV then followed in succession, the first being “Space I” then the excellent “First Time Caller” was next in this great show before McVeigh thanked the crowd by telling them “it feels good to be back home…” The boys from Ealing rocked the Roundhouse with “Death” before going off stage for a short break. White Lies then returned to rapturous applause and marked the encore with “Big TV”, the title track of the latest album before they closed the set with “Bigger Than Us.” Balloons fell from the roof to bring an end to a marvellous gig. McVeigh added before the end, “It was a pleasure to have played for you…” but the pleasure was everyone else’s after a good night musically and visually. These guys make great music and great shows, and that is definitely no white lie.
— Mark Sharpley | @MarkSharpley1
