Shot! Royal Blood live in Portsmouth

Brighton’s best put on a rock solid performance which, while often scintillating, was let down by playing too many songs from their newly released, most underwhelming album to date

Royal Blood and I go back a long way. I first got to see them play in December 2013 at one of their earliest Brighton gigs. They were headlining Bermuda Triangle, a tiny claustrophobic venue on the seafront that thankfully no longer exists.

Back then they were already making a big noise, the only band to make it on the BBC’s Sound of 2014 long list. Prior to that gig, I’d only heard the band’s debut single Out Of The Black as their first album had yet to be released and their career-changing support slot with Arctic Monkeys was still a ways off.

In my review of the gig, I remember writing that if they were on course to become Brighton’s next superheroes, they’ll need to figure out how to be a lot more amazing onstage than they were that night.

Since then I’ve seen them quite a few times and watched them develop into what some have described as British rock royalty. I even had the opportunity to interview Mike Kerr. The last time I saw the band live was at the Brighton Centre back in September 2021.

This summer, Royal Blood were back in Brighton, for a massive concert on the beach that drew 10,000 fans. I missed out on this show, as well as an album launch gig at Concorde 2 a few weeks earlier, so when I learnt they were playing Portsmouth, I made sure I was there.

Almost ten years on from that Bermuda Triangle show, Royal Blood have come a long way. Their just-released album, Back To The Water Below, was their fourth successive No 1 album in Britain. That’s quite an achievement in anyone’s books and has taken the band from performing in front of a few hundred to playing huge festivals like Glastonbury. Earlier this year, they played Marseille’s Velodrome a few months before their beloved Brighton football team got to do the same when they played their first game in Europe there.

As a duo, Royal Blood have always made a bigger noise than one could ever imagine two instruments making. It defined their sound and drew many plaudits as to how they managed it. But at the same time it also restricted what they could do sonically, as they could only take their signature sound so far. 2021’s bombastic third album Typhoons, broadened their range, imbueing it with a different vibe, specifically an electronic edge sometimes bordering on glam rock. It was one I really enjoyed.

That being said, I didn’t feel the same with the follow-up. The band describe it as giving them a “broader palette” than their previous albums, but apart from seeing them branch out with a couple of contemplative almost acoustic songs, to me it just wasn’t that interesting a listen. I also felt that on too many songs Mike was singing in a totally different accent to how he’d done before and that Ben’s drums didn’t sound quite so crushingly heavy as they used to. Both of which bemused me.

But most baffling, I felt they’d lost their way when it comes to writing earworm rock songs. Perhaps this was down it being their first self-produced album. Recorded at their own studio in Brighton, with no outsider to question what they were doing, maybe there wasn’t anyone to provide an objective point of view.

Lacking the punch and distinctly catchy riffs the duo are known for, to my ears, Back To The Water Below is their least satisfying album to date. I think Rolling Stone’s review summed it up best: “It’s perfectly fine” they wrote “but it won’t rattle your bones.” And rattling your bones is what Royal Blood’s music should be all about.

Another significant change has been the addition of a third musician at their live shows. For me, this was quite a contentious decision given such a big part of Royal Blood’s appeal is the huge sound they’re able to create as a duo.

Whilst clearly restrictive in what they can achieve, the wow factor of seeing them live was the complex soundscape that two instruments and one voice could produce. Appreciating it enables them to expand their live sound, adding Darren Watts on keys and guitar, takes away much of that mystery.

Playing a venue like the Guildhall, with a capacity of 2,500, meant getting to see the band in a relatively intimate setting in front of a sold out crowd. Before they even took the stage, it was clear this was going to be a stripped back production. There were no video screens, and apart from a massive silver drumkit featuring a huge Zildjian gong, there was nothing filling the stage. What there was however was an impressive looking bank of lights that formed the entire backdrop.

And curiously, given the band’s evident interest in graphics, there was no Royal Blood logo, nor even a nod to the eyecatching golden jellyfish that adorns the new album. With that record full of maritime metaphors, I would have expected it to have influenced the visual production in some way, yet it was ignored.

Artistically, it was all about the lights. And whilst it was not the most creative lighting I’ve ever seen, it did provide a slick look to the trio on stage who were cleanly lit without ever being blown out as often happens when you have so many lights. That being said, I did feel it could have been more visually adventurous.

Talking of slick looks, I thought Mike Kerr, now clean shaven and with a fresh trim, looked the sveltest I’ve seen him. Indeed, he looked younger than he did a couple of years ago.

As always, he and Ben were on point when it came to playing the songs. Some of the early highlights included Come On Over, Lights Out and Trouble’s Coming showcasing Royal Blood at their powerful best, full of energetic, catchy riffs, key changes and thunderous drums. The only issue for me was six of the 18 song set were drawn from the new album, and none of them apart from the opener Mountains At Midnight and Shiner In The Dark were standouts.

No wonder the three songs that received the most enthusiatic reaction from the audience were older tracks like Little Monster — which somewhat bizarrely, featured a brief cameo from Mike Kerr’s dad on trumpet —their debut single Out Of The Black and my personal favourite, the infectious set closer Figure It Out.

As with any Royal Blood gig, you can’t fail to be impressed by Ben Thatcher’s drumming and the variety of sounds Mike Kerr extracts from his bass guitar. Together they make for a powerful combination. But as much as the duo have gotten better over the past ten years, you’re left feeling that by now — at least in terms of production — they really should have taken their live show to an even higher level.

Setlist: Mountains At Midnight | Come On Over | Boilermaker | Lights Out | Shiner In The Dark | Hook, Line & Sinker | Triggers | Trouble’s Coming | Typhoons | Pull Me Through | Little Monster | How Did We Get So Dark? | Tell Me When It’s Too Late | Loose Change | Out Of The Black | | Waves | Ten Tonne Skeleton | Figure It Out

Behind the shot: These images were taken using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the M Zuiko 1.8 75mm lens and the camera’s built-in digital zoom. I was only allowed to shoot the first three songs from the pit. From a photography perspective, the band were superbly lit and I’m really pleased with the images I came away with, by far the best shots of Royal Blood that I’ve taken from all the gigs I’ve seen them play. Photographed in Portsmouth on 27 October 2023

About the author: Based in Sussex-by-the-Sea, on England’s south coast, Gary is a creative writer and image-maker. He specialises in creating out of the ordinary portraits of musicians and people with interesting faces, as well as photographing some of the world’s finest flowers and gardens, not forgetting an array of automotive exotica.

On the writing side, he has used his research skills to author deep dives into some noteworthy songs beginning with Bryan Ferry’s ‘These Foolish Things’ ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials, ‘Real Wild Child’ by Ivan and ‘All The Young Dudes’ by Mott the Hoople.

He has also written a biography of Robert Palmer and the stories behind Whitesnake’s blatant Led Zep rip-off, ‘Still Of The Night’, Harry Styles’ anthem to positivity, ‘Treat People With Kindness’ and the little known Queen track ‘Cool Cat.’

Most recently, Gary has penned the fascinating story behind George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ as well as ‘Believe It Or Not’ a look into the rise of fake news and his latest essay ‘Nadir: How the cost of living crisis has brought so many in broken Britain to the depths of despair.’

All these can be found here on Medium, along with his reviews of gigs and events and chats with musicians including the likes of Royal Blood, Joe Satriani and Wolf Alice.