Bastille Head To Manchester For Amazon Music’s City Session

Amazon Music host intimate performances from some of the best contemporary artists and bands around. These are known as their ‘City Sessions’.

Past City Sessions have previously included performances by Hozier, Kings of Leon, Nelly Furtado and more, but last night saw the first City Session held at Manchester’s Aviva Studios.

Bastille frontman, Dan Smith, was joined by friends (touring member Charlie Barnes, as well as Moira Mack, AK Patterson and Merrick WInter) on stage to showcase his new Bastille Presents ‘&’ (Ampersand) project. The accompanying album of the same name is due for release next Friday (25 October) and a select few fans were treated to an incredibly special, intimate show while others watched live via Amazon Prime and Twitch.

It was even more special since Smith is only doing limited live shows attached to this project, so we grabbed the  chance to see the ‘&’ songs live with both hands! It is also good that the performance was livestreamed in a way to make it more accessible for fans who perhaps can’t make it to the shows.

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Viewers, both virtual and in-person, were treated to brand new songs – some of which were being performed for the first time ever – from the upcoming album as well as one or two of the more well-known hits later on.

While Bastille showsare typically very energetic and see the frontman jumping around the stage to their hit tracks such as ‘Icarus’, the City Session last night was much more relaxed.  Smith was joined by a string quartet on this occassion, which added to the heightened emotion of the whole experience. Surrounded by candles, Smith’s vocals were flawless and the acoustic / folk nature of songs like ‘Eve & Paradise Lost’ and previous single ‘Leonard & Marianne’ (inspired by the relationship between Leonard Cohen and his muse Marianne Ihlen) were a great opportunity for Smith’s voice to really shine. His range and control were very impressive, even more so in the presence of the captivated audience. You could hear a pin drop.

During ‘Drawbridge & The Baroness’, Smith pushed the limits of his voice in a way which sounded amazing and kudos to him for pulling off such a falsetto in a live setting too (although he did joke that performing the song was a “f*cking nightmare” before he started).

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Speaking of phenomenal talent, CLASH Next Wave’ artist Bimwas the night’s surprise guest and stunned audiences with a song she had co-written for ‘&’. It is called ‘The Soprano & Midnight Wonderings’, which Bim also features on. The performance of ‘Soprano & Midnight Wonderings’ was truly haunting, with the entire show giving ethereal vibes.

Between songs, Smith spoke about the inspirations for the album and how he had wanted to write songs from the viewpoints of people from history and mythology, especially those who had been forgotten or misrepresented in the past. Smith was clearly nervous as would often mention, but it was in his trademark, endearing way.

Towards the end of the set, ‘Pompeii’ was also performed and it felt appropriate seeing as Smith described it as one of the “original” story songs. A stripped-back version of their ‘big’ hit, the song has been tailored to suit the tone of the night perfectly.

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Words: Narzra Ahmed