大象传媒

Who doesn't love Kowalski? They look amazing, they play brilliantly and as they continue to blitz some of the biggest live shows Northern Ireland has to offer, their stage performance is maturing into something quite special. Gary Lightbody's favourite local band replaced The Mystery jets at Belsonic 08, so how did they fair?


NAME OF ACT: Kowalski

TIME ONSTAGE: 7:00

CROWD REACTION: There's a small crowd up towards the front for the Bangor boys, but most folks are hanging around the sides and back, easing themselves into the long night ahead. People seem amenable enough to their electronica indie stylings, and certainly those at the front are getting into it - for most people, their sunny tunes are providing a sweet, if somewhat laid back, start to proceedings. By and large, though, it's not the rapturous response they usually get (and deserve) at their local gigs, but this doesn't faze the charming confidence these guys always display onstage.

STAND OUT MOMENT: Lead singer Louis yelling "arghh, wasp!" and batting wildly with his hands during their last song. More seriously, though, it was clear that it shouldn't be too long before these guys get a higher billing at an event like this. "Oh My Good God" was the only 'old' song they played, performing instead a handful of tracks from their upcoming album, which sounds to be on the way to be one of the best albums to come out of any band from these shores in a long, long time.

BELSONIC RATING (out of ten): A decent 6.5 out of 10 - would have been higher had the majority of the crowd been a little more vocal or energetic.

Orla Graham