I haven’t to my recollection ever been to a venue as small as the Camden Assembly or what used to be the Barfly. The set up is that there is a trendy bar/restaurant off the street and then the music venue is upstairs. The hall itself has a further bar at the back and cramped stage at the front. The space between is about the size of my living and dining rooms. Actually I have been to a venue this small before - Oslo. Anyhow it was a cool spot.
Unfortunately both my mates pulled out at short notice effectively leaving me standing in a corner for 2 hours waiting for something to happen. There was no support act, so having arrived just after 7 myself Temples finally appeared at 9:30. But yes they were worth the wait. They played a set pretty much alternating tracks from their brilliant debut album Sun Structures and new stuff up until the encore which was all old school. It was all quite exhilarating stuff. The thing about Temples is as far as I am aware no one else is playing music quite like this – new psychedelic rock. Rather went put of fashion 40 odd years ago. But this isn’t pastiche although the lead singer has gone with the Marc Nolan hair and sparkly jacket. Its fresh and drives along at pace.
The catch with them as an a act is that they really seem to have a personality by-pass. They just seem like 4 skinny geeks who like playing guitar (and drums). Nothing really wrong with that, but it doesn't really help you get to the top. There is a lot to being a live act that isn't just the music. But I did enjoy being so close to the act that I could actually read the set list taped to the floor in front of them.
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