blood red shoes

Before we kick off, you can just spot Blood Red Shoes standing in the shadows, doing a warm-up routine worthy of Sunday league football. Bouncing on the spot and breathing deeply, it’s encouraging to see that despite the treadmill of touring they don’t take any gig for granted. Sporting darker hair, Laura-Mary seems more confident than ever, while Steven is born to drum in a Springsteen t-shirt. The angular meaty romp ‘Getting Boring By The Sea’ kicks off their first attack. Laura-Mary’s vocals are drowned out by a choir of chaps who sing every lyric with worrying precision, while they eagerly eye up Steven. ‘Can’t Find The Door’ erupts, and Blood Red Shoes begin to play a mating game. A guitar-wielding Laura-Mary approaches Steven. She issues her enigmatic smiles and provocatively shakes her hair. He plays harder and faster. She retreats back across the stage and emits another dark refrain - ”step back!” - before Steven once again crashes into his drums. Those blokes are still mouthing every word and still staring at Steven. They thrust further forward as ‘Try So Hard’ (BRS’ dig at the ephemeral nature of rock) resonantly plays out like a ready-made Artrocker anthem. A tumultuous encore begins. Blood Red Shoes finally deliver the song everyone’s been waiting for, finishing with ‘ADHD’. Steven invites one of his admirers up on stage to bang some percussion. This encourages more of the staring ‘Shoes fans aboard… and suddenly it’s a stage invasion! Steven bashes on bravely, as dozens of rapturous arms punch the air behind him. Laura-Mary shouts, “I can’t concentrate on anything at all!!” And for some people on the stage, they think it’s all over… but for Blood Red Shoes the glorious game is only just beginning.