Bastille & The Town Hall
Bastille graced the candle lit stage of The Town Hall in New York City with a limited run of “&”. This latest project is a collection of songs inspired by important moments from the past. Interwoven into beautiful, modern songs, Dan Smith and his collaborators brought incredibly strong and emotional stories to life in a new way. Each track on “&” has an intricate story behind it and during the evening, we were able to hear right from the creator’s mind and learn about each piece of this special album. The open and warm atmosphere created an intimate listening experience for every audience member.
There is so much history that went into this album, a podcast was born to fully explain the expansive array of knowledge behind it. Tune into Smith’s podcast “Muses” with historian Emma Nagouse for detailed accounts of the individuals and their stories and how each song came to be.
Smith started writing songs at 14; he took one of his very first songs he had written and reworked it for this album: Telegraph Road 1977 & 2024. He graciously shared that his mom sang backing vocals on the original demo and she came back and sang them again on this album. It was one of the most heartwarming moments of the entire evening and brought an entirely new meaning to this song.
The unique rendition of Pompeii was a personal highlight. This was the 6th time I have gotten to hear this song live, the first time being a decade ago and this song continues to bring joy to my heart.
Smith enthusiastically spent the evening narrating through different parts of this project’s writing process. It was different from any other Bastille show I have ever attended. The mellow atmosphere made it a unique concert experience. The audience was really able to sit and take in the intricate parts of the music. Smith introduced his band early on, each one being an important part of this project’s success. Each band member has their own individual projects and opened for different shows of the tour: Moira Mack, Charlie Barnes, Merrick Winter, AK Patterson, Florrie & BIM. During the special performance of Good Grief, each band member was able to show their flare and have the much deserved spotlight for a moment. It was lovely to hear all of their separate voices come together so flawlessly.
As the last song Blue Sky & The Painter rang out, the warm orange atmosphere that dawned the entire evening flashed and turned blue, bringing this special evening to a close. I walked out of the theater with a smile on my face knowing I had just witnessed magic.
