The Rapture
Oxford O2 Academy
1st May, 2012

On a wet Tuesday in Oxford, The Rapture played to a two-thirds- full hall, the intimate space a reminder of the band’s unduly diminished popularity after a five-year hiatus. His trademark dishevelled haircut and lanky figure cutting a familiar dash, Luke Jenner commanded the four-piece (minus original bassist Matt Safie) through a slew of numbers, mostly from their debut, Echoes, and last year’s In The Grace Of Your Love. Flitting between early material and more recent tracks made for a bipolar gig, with cuts from their first LP sizzling with characteristically abrasive bass, saxophone and cowbells, and starkly contrasting with the gentler melodies of their recent output. At times, it was almost as if two bands were fighting for command of the stage. And while their new material works, in places (the encore, How Deep Is Your Love), it was the rawness and nostalgia of the olde stuff that injected adrenalin into an otherwise frustratingly lethargic crowd.