For one night only, Motorpoint Arena was magically transformed into what felt like a magical fairy-tale realm...
Somehow, Florence + the Machine achieved the impossible at their rescheduled Nottingham leg of the Dance Fever tour. For one night only, the arena magically transformed into what felt like a magical fairy-tale realm, as we all joined her ‘cult’, as she identified herself.
As a rectangular white picture frame slowly fell from the ceiling to the floor, revealing a collection of white cobwebbed chandeliers, it was clear that the audience was in for an enchanting evening. With a blinding ray of light, Florence Welch entered the stage to the song Heaven is Here, donning a devastatingly beautiful mint green and peach lace dress.
Her other-worldly aesthetics would only serve to match her mind-blowingly perfect voice, with the person next to me remarking that it sounded ‘like we’re listening to her record’. There are very people quite as vocally talented as Florence, and getting to hear her in the flesh highlights that she’s really something special. Particularly on tracks like King, her endurance and vibrato are simply stunning and truly mesmerising for audience members.
Those beautiful delicate moments were also balanced with all out energy from the stellar performer. Bursting into life with Ship To Wreck, the singer started summoning the crowd into the air getting everyone bouncing. It was like her life force was coming from being on that stage, and she was desperate to share that life with her fans.
Halfway through her incredible hit, Dog Days Are Over, Florence requested that the audience join her in the present moment and that they put away their phones, arguing that concerts were meant to be lived and not posted. For the most part the crowd obliged after her joking South London demand of ‘put down your f***ing phones!’, which was actually a huge novelty when I think about a lot of the other gigs that I’ve attended. For a lot of the people standing, it’s refreshing to not have to watch a gig through someone’s phone, if you’re farther back.
The set had a well measured balance of old favourites and new tracks from the phenomenal Dance Fever album, with equally well alternated moments of arresting and gorgeous moments of beauty with high-energy roof-raising rock music. She frequently involved her fans in her magical world by reaching out to the front row, cupping the faces of her fans and holding tight a transgender flag in a beautifully heartfelt moment with one particular fan.
She also proceeded to run the lengths of the arena, with her long red hair flowing behind her. It’s very clear to see why she rescheduled the concert with a broken foot; her performance is filled with so very much movement. Her stunning dress moved in a beautifully complementary way all night, making it very difficult to want to ever look away.
The only slightly irksome element to the night was perhaps that the gimmick of witchy-ness and the transcending atmosphere that was being constructed on stage at times verged on being slightly kitsch. While for the most part, this was fitting and welcomed, there became a point where this theme was being overly hammered home.
By the end of the gig, where she requested ‘human sacrifices’ (aka audience members on their friends shoulders), I couldn’t help but roll my eyes slightly. In fairness, she did laugh at her own joke here, and so there was a recognition of being a little over-the-top.
Somewhat surprisingly, old favourite Kiss With a Fist made the set list, causing the arena to erupt with a sense of excitement and drive to match the angriness and roughness of the track. You could see quite a few faces slightly surprised to hear it, but for many, this only spurred them into more passionate movement.
Even more surprisingly, this gig marked the re-emergence of a track that Florence hasn’t played for ten years. She gave a hauntingly beautiful performance of Never Let Me Go, a track from her ‘drunk and sad’ times, that she remarked had been too painful to sing. Reclaiming the memories of that time of her life in the form of song, she touched the audience members in a profound and gentle way.
Ending the night with Shake It Out and Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up), her celebration of life and togetherness after Covid culminated in an awestriking sea of arms and energy from the standing crowd, and swathes of movement from the seated sections. The mind-blowing bundles of energy pouring out from the performer was unrelenting all night and only grew for these final two tracks. She gave her all to the audience and the audience completely ate it all up. What an incredible evening, from the incredible Florence + the Machine.
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