大象传媒

There were guest appearances from local musicians, there were various members of the crowd recruited to take part in Escape Act's percussion section and even a drunken man hurling abuse and various philosophical comments at the support bands. However, these novelties did not distract from some strong performances at this launch for Escape Act's second album, Balance.

Tom McShane seems to be the king of simplicity. There's a gorgeous quality to his music, reminiscent of Elliott Smith, with opener 'Flowers' setting the tone almost immediately. There's no showboating, but the occasional falsetto is thrown in to devastating effect at times. With the addition of a drummer, McShane grows in stature as Pixies-inspired 'Fighter' steals the show. Due to the format of the gig the songwriter's set is cut short, but he certainly leaves us wanting more and counting down the days until the release of his recently recorded album.

You Kiss By The Book appear to have a penchant for glockenspiel solos, which this reviewer heartily endorses. The Dublin band seem to be heavily inspired by Teenage Fanclub, and highlight of the set 'Hands on Water', certainly would not be out of place on Bandwagonesque. This isn't paint by numbers alt-folk, however - various time changes occur within tracks and as soon as they set a mood, they try and surprise you once again with unerring success. Occasionally, the rhymes are too awkward to listen to and the lyrics are a little unoriginal, but on the whole it's a decent performance for the first night of their tour.

Escape Act have evolved in a major way over the last two years, both as a band and individually. Chris Heaney's vocals have improved tenfold as he seems to revel in his role as frontman of the band, and there's a real attention to detail on their latest release as the group have brought more and more instrumentation into the fold, seemingly merging influences such as Spoon with their new wave stylings.

Recreating it in a live setting is a different challenge entirely, and for the most part the tracks did not overly suffer for it. 'Single Thought' is infused with a newfound energy with some dynamic drumming, while the addition of a trumpet to proceedings adds a wonderful richness to their sound (especially on quieter tracks such as 'Flat Ocean'). Heaney appears to be constantly challenging himself to fit as many words as possible within a single breath, culminating in the epic lyrical maze that is 'Burning Sand'. In fact, the biggest victims of the transfer to a live setting are the backing vocals, which for the most part become lost in the mix or simply drowned out. Highlight of the set 'Salt In Your Eye' is an absolute gem of an indie pop track: bursting with energy and ridiculously catchy, it's impossible not to sit up and take notice. Suffice to say, Escape Act have well and truly gained our attention.

Patrick Kane