Choir of Young Believers returned to Store Vega for their second concert of the year at the venue on Saturday. Led by frontman Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, the believers managed to brighten up the damp, dark evening with a solid show that featured some of the band’s revered hits along with a few songs off their latest album Rhine Gold. Ultimately though, the evening failed to truly take off despite the best efforts of the internationally-acclaimed Danish indie pop band.
Makrigiannis and company took the stage as the last act of the evening, following performances by 4 Guys from the Future and One Year from Home. A combination of technical glitches and sound problems resulted in poor opening sets, which weren't made any shorter by a stiff audience in a venue that was far from its usual capacity. It was clear from the start that this was going to be an uphill struggle for Choir of Young Believers, who went on almost a good half an hour later than they should have. This notwithstanding, the indie pop band were sharp, if not witty, during the entirety of their performance as they did their best to rescue what had been a disappointing couple of hours.
The musical career of Choir of Young Believers received a shot in the arm back in February when they dropped their highly revered second album Rhine Gold, an album that saw the band cultivate the heavily acoustic sound fused with dark, contemplative lyrics that they have become associated with. Saturday's show featured several tracks off the album, but the live versions failed to match the band’s studio work.
The confident Makrigianni's sharply inclined vocals plucked away at a rigid backdrop of emphatic synthesiser stabs and wistful guitar combinations that created a dreamy, progressive atmosphere in the concert hall right from the word go. As the show progressed, however, an overwhelming sense of repetitiveness descended on the venue, as many of the songs began to sound a lot like each other. This, coupled with paltry crowd, dampened the otherwise dextrous musicianship by the Believers, and cemented the final brick in what was ultimately a lukewarm concert.
