Royal Blood Electrify London Ahead Of 2014 MTV EMA
The Brighton duo brought the ruckus to Camden Town’s Electric Ballroom before their performance at the ceremony on Sunday…
Royal Blood took London by storm on Thursday (November 6) after delivering a triumphant set to an army of head-banging, mosh-happy fans just days before their performance at the MTV EMA in Glasgow.
Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher will mix with rock royalty at the bash, including Ozzy Osbourne and U2 when they play the SSE Hydro tomorrow (November 9).
The band played two shows at the iconic Electric Ballroom in Camden, which has hosted everyone from Blur to The Clash and MTV News were there on the first night to see what went down.
Feeling: Heavy with anticipation, a sell out gig for one of the most hyped about bands around right now. Controlled chaos ensued throughout the show with the band barely making it through their opening track, Hole, before a mosh pit took out the first five rows.
The Look: Hasn’t changed, skinny jeans and leather jacket for the band's frontman and bassist, channelling a rockabilly greaser. Flat peak hat with black t-shirt combo for his no nonsense drummer, Ben, who at one point looked like he was going to be pulled into the mosh pit himself.
Tunes: The pair thrashed tracks from their highly successful self-titled debut including Figure It Out, Little Monster and Out Of The Black. With Mike dedicating the latter to a heckler’s girlfriend after throwing a beer on stage, sparking shouts and laughter from the audience.
Where are you going, where you running to?
Hey little monster, you know it's all ok
I'm gonna love you, no matter what you say
I got love on my fingers
Lust on my tongue
You say you got nothing
So come out and get some
Heartache to heartache
I'm your wolf, I'm your man
I say run little monster
Before you know who I am
Hey little creature, tell me what's on your mind
Where've you been hiding? Can I come this time?
So pleased to please you, and rip that heart off your sleeve
Let me discover
I got love on my fingers
Lust on my tongue
You say you got nothing
So come out and get some
Heartache to heartache
I'm your wolf, I'm your man
I say run little monster
Before you know who I am
I got love on my fingers
Lust on my tongue
You say you got nothing
So come out and get some
Heartache to heartache
I'm your wolf- I'm your man
I say run little monster
Before you know who I
...Am
Special Guests: The band made it clear from the offset that this was their night and neither was going to be upstaged by anyone, could they be saving something for Sunday?
Banter: Despite making the sound of two lead guitarists from one bass guitar and a drumming powerhouse to boot, be in no doubt, Royal Blood are still a duo. Kerr introducing “the rest of the band, Ben Thatcher” has become a regular fixture at their shows.
And drank my blood, to me, she said
Our secret's worth its weight in gold
But that fire we had, now's turning cold
Cut loose like an animal
Fired out like a cannon ball
But I waited too long
Yeah, I waited too long
Got me high from a holy vein
Crashed down in a hurricane
Love has been here and gone
Love has been here and gone
Where did you go? Where did you run?
I can't erase what you've done
Let's burn the past, forget the truth
You're still loving him, I'm still loving you
Cut loose like an animal
Fired out like a cannon ball
But I waited too long
Yeah, I waited too long
Got me high from a holy vein
Crashed down in a hurricane
Love has been here and gone
Love has been here and gone
Cut loose like an animal
Fired out like a cannon ball
But I waited too long
Yeah I waited too long
Got me high from a holy vein
Crashed down in a hurricane
Love has been here and gone
Love has been here and gone
But I waited too long
For you only
Love has been here and gone
To die slowly
Going under again
So don't follow me
Sweat Factor: If you weren’t dripping from head to toe you were probably at the wrong gig. Endurance was key in keeping your cool in the Ballroom sweatbox.
Summary: It was very much a case of they came and they conquered. Royal Blood have had a lot of experience cutting their teeth as a live band, supporting Arctic Monkeys earlier this year. In true Camden spirit the house was rocking, bring on Glasgow.
By Theo Watt @MTVUK