A sold-out crowd of fans lined the block around 9:30 club on Sept. 28 to hear Bastille, a four-piece band from the U.K. Since their album “Bad Blood” was recently released in the U.S., Bastille’s popularity has been climbing the charts.
The Eagle had a chance to sit down with Chris “Woody” Wood (drums) and Will Farquarson (bass) before the show.
Many of Bastille’s fans describe their songs as upbeat rock anthems, but still find their style difficult to categorize. Farquarson attempted to define the band’s sound, describing Bastille as “a krunk-step out fit from the U.K,” though he also added that, “We don’t even know what krunk means.”
The anthem aspect was clear during the performance as lead singer Dan Smith belted out songs like “Pompeii” and “Icarus” and keyboardist Kyle Simmons banged on a tom-tom while the crowd chanted along.
U.K. fans “have a tendency to jump around,” Wood said. With the American fans, “the harder you play, the more into it they get,” and the more they sing along. U.S. fans are also big on interacting with the artists.
During a rendition of their ballad “Overjoyed,” a face from the crowd interrupted the line, “Oh, I feel overjoyed,” by screaming “yeah you do,” which flustered Smith and sent a wave of laughter throughout the audience.
When Smith left the stage for the floor during “Flaws,” the crowd took the opportunity to “get a handful of Dan,” as phrased by an excited fan. Smith stood on the bar and sang to the balcony while his bandmates laughed at the sea of clawing hands.
Farquarson said that laughter during their performances is common, especially during their cover songs. Covering popular songs and making them their own is something that Bastille has become well-known for.
“Once you’ve covered a song like ‘We Can’t Stop,’ the pinnacle of song-writing, anything else is a step down from Cyrus,” said Farquarson jokingly.
The band does, however, have new songs in the works.
“Dan has about ten kind of half-finished ideas at the minute,” Wood said.
For now, fans will have to wait until next time because Bastille’s U.S. tour ends this week.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
