Since we first heard the debut album, Box of Secrets, from Blood Red Shoes in 2008, we have been tracking them and following their success, yet, surprisingly never had a chance to see them live...until now. On Thursday night, the duo from Brighton, England, closed out their U.S. tour with a final stop at New York City's Studio at Webster Hall. The intimate basement venue served as the perfect setting to host a wrap party for one of the loudest and wildest bands we have ever witnessed. Good things come to those who wait, so for five years of waiting and hearing about the concert hype surrounding Blood Red Shoes, they did not disappoint.
Opening with the pulse pounding "Heartsink," drummer/singer Steven Ansell and guitarist/singer Laura-Mary Carter set the tone and mood straight away. The small crowd packed as close as they could to the front of the stage and would not stop moving for the hour that the band performed. The bands sound which can be defined as grunge meets art rock is something that would make Kurt Cobain and Frank Black smile. The band, who were just in town two weeks ago supporting Joy Formidable at the main room in Webster Hall seemed to bring fans back from that gig and were indeed pleased that so many faces returned in such a short amount of time, with that in mind, they made their time worthwhile. Cranking up the volume to almost defining levels, it was hard to hear Laura-Mary and Steven sing at times, but that was the beauty of it, it didn't matter. The energy that these two were feeding off to the crowd was enough to have everyone in the room begging for more. Playing a majority of songs off their latest release, 2012's In Time To Voices, Blood Red Shoes managed to make the songs sound better live than they appeared on disc, even at the volume they were playing. As intense and intimate as this show was, it still amazes me that they have not gotten bigger in popularity hear in the United States, while I loved the fact they were in The Studio, they deserve to be in the main room at Webster Hall and beyond.
