65daysofstatic’s latest musical offering is vastly different to their previous releases, so I was interested to see what sort of crowd they would be pulling to their latest headline UK tour. I happened to be catching them in Birmingham at the new and ‘improved’ Carling Academy (which in my opinion is not a patch on the old one), but nonetheless 65dos are veterans to this well trodden ground. With the band opting to move further from their post-rock generalisation that they gained from their first three albums and into a more electronic and dance based field of sounds it certainly lead to an interesting and varied live set. Less guitar and drums with double the synths lead to the band being more static on-stage, with less of the thrashing and destruction but still just as enthralling to watch, luckily not letting their reputation for live gigs down.
As the lights faded for their impending performance the tension within the room rose tenfold as people peered eagerly towards the darkened stage, as the first notes of ‘Go Complex’ blasted out of the amps each member took their place and the crowd was met with a sheer colossal explosion which blew the room apart, 65 at their utter best. After a few new tracks, which went down well with the crowd, it was clear that there were old and new fans alike here to witness the show, as old favourites such as ‘Retreat! Retreat!’ and ‘Radio Protector’ were welcomed with open arms from dedicated ’65 kids’ and with a quiet appreciation from newcomers. Barely a seconds break for peoples eardrums to recover they spent little time talking and most of their time playing, which is what they do best.
65daysofstatic are playing a number of festivals this summer in both the UK and Europe. Their latest album, We Were Exploding Anyway, is out now. You can read a full interview with the band in Vol 1.4 of Faux here.
