Temples at the Forum

I think this was the third time I had seen the Temples play this year. Last time was a the tiny Garage. This time they had moved up to the more capacious Forum in Kentish Town.

Unfortunately the mate I was going with had to cry off at the last moment due to work commitments so with only hours to go I thought of my colleagues 18 year old who had come to the Specials gig with me at short notice and had the added advantage that he hasn't at the moment got any work to be committed to. His dad then said that actually his younger brother would fancy it if there wasn't an age barrier, and at 14 he was just fine. So off we went for what was a very good night. We got chatting to a couple in front who not unnaturally leapt to the conclusion that (a) he was my son and (b) that he was dragging me along to see this band.

Anyway, first up was a band called Klaus Johann Grobe. They rather grew on me as time went on, repetitive giving way to insistent. No short songs here- not sure that we heard more than one long, long track. But fine enough and different - a three-piece with drummer, keyboards and guitarist, all seated which does make animation difficult.

 Next on were Superfood - a brit pop type band who frankly I liked enough to be happy to see them headline sometime.

 

 And then Temples. Much likened to T Rex, not least by me, I can well understand why they are advancing in popularity. As lead singer James Bagshaw said when the audience demanded more, they would like to play longer but they haven't got any more songs. Just the one album, Sun Structures, and he said they hadn't had time to write any more. Maybe a little time off needed.

What they did is extend some of what they had, and introduce an orchestra to add layers to their sound - string section, harpist, French horn and sax.

If you like psychedelic music they should be for you. I would say in comparison to T Rex (and I know this is heresy) they are actually rather better. I like James' slightly reedy voice, and love the overall sound. And he does somehow look the part - skinny bloke topped off with big frizz of hair