Hurts live @ Ancienne Belgique

Harvey Quinnt

Clare Maguire was supposed to support Hurts in Brussels, but circumstances forced her to cancell a few weeks prior to the concert. Antwerp-based band Harvey Quinnt substituted for her and quite frankly, it didn't work for me. And that's not them, it's me. Although in a way it was them. In the way that they are simply not Clare Maguire. Brave effort though.

Hurts

Fishing in the same new-wave pond many consider to have been emptied by bands like Editors, Manchester-based band Hurts received mostly mixed reviews for their 2010 debut Happiness. But while musical taste will always be debatable and taking in account that the band consistently walks the fine line between heartfelt and overly pathetic, few could deny that singer Theo Hutchcraft and synth player Adam Anderson dispose of a perfectly stylized act and an arsenal of well-crafted songs. The question that remained to be answered then, was whether their flawlessly constructed concept and enigmatic presence would resound in front of a live audience. Because even the best construction will flatline when there's no connection.

The show began with an impressive audiovisual intro, during which the band formally entered the stage, opening with 'Unspoken'. Hutchcraft's twitching hand gestures looked somewhat exagerated, but other than that his vocals were up to standards. After that Hurts pulled out the big guns with album opener 'Silver Lining' and 'Wonderful Life', their biggest hit to date. 'Evelyn' and 'Sunday' marked the loud moment in the set, expressed by Hutchcraft dramatically wielding his microphone stand around. All impressively streamlined and of course that slightly killed off the spontaneity of the show. Not a single unneeded word, every outburst feeling a bit rehearsed. Sometimes Hurts got a bit lost in their self-imposed theatrics, with the bouquet of white roses thrown into the audience one rose at a time as somewhat of a pinnacle. One of the highlights of the show was nonetheless their Kylie duet 'Devotion', followed by their own cover version of Minogue's 'Confide In Me', a more subdued pair of songs. It was at these moments that you could spot the sincerity behind the orchestration. After the swelling duo 'Stay' and 'Illuminated' the lead duo left the stage, as there band stayed on, remaining there frozen until Hutchcraft and Anderson deemed it time to return (and they took their sweet time) for one encore: 'Better Than Love'. End of a flawlessly executed set without a single weak moment. Nothing unexpected either, but quality-wise there was not much to be critisized.

The main default was maybe the interaction with the audience (or the lack of it), which throughout the concert rarely surpassed a modest 'thanks very much' from Hutchcraft. Meanwhile Anderson ceremoniously accompanied him behind his piano with the air of a classical composer. Seriously, you have enigmatic and then you have enigmatic for the sake of being enigmatic. And at times it felt as if appearance was more important than connecting with the audience. That could mean two things. One, that Hurts is a pair of pretentious snobs, whose heavily new-wave inspired, almost sacral concept doesn't allow for interaction. Or, it could be growing pains that will eventually wear off as they evolve, letting loose a little their rigid and sometimes slightly pompous gestures. Their show lead on to believe that it's most likely to be the second option.