Cursive, Kevin Devine - The Limelight, Belfast
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Cursive, Kevin Devine
The Limelight, Belfast
Wednesday the 6th June 2012
It鈥檚 been a long time since Nebraska鈥檚 finest, played in Belfast. Six long years to be precise, and that was a festival slot. 鈥檚 not been here since 2008 either; 鈥渘ot since the big wheel was here鈥. But the wheels kept on spinning (or in this case, being dismantled) until finally the pair joined up again to bring their indie-rock back to an appropriately intimate setting.
Kevin Devine takes to the stage first, alone with his trusty guitar, nothing but a blue spotlight to set the scene. As soon as he sings the first few notes of 鈥淵ou鈥檒l Only End Up Joining Them鈥, you can hear a pin-drop. Everyone鈥檚 silently transfixed as the rasping rocker strums and croons through a set of achingly heart-felt, indie-folk.
The biggest cheer comes for the intro of 鈥淭ime To Burn鈥. Kevin tells us he鈥檚 had too much burrito pre-gig and you can almost see the food sweats kicking in as he strains his vocals through the final few songs 鈥 but it works. Kevin Devine has this innate charm - he doesn鈥檛 quite demand you sit up and pay attention in the way Frank Turner for example would, but Kevin will tug on your heartstrings, drag you in and tangle you up in them. Lovely.
Cursive shake things up with their avant-garde approach to indie-rock; complicated guitar hooks, jazz injections, emotive lyrics hush-hushed then shouty-shouted. They don鈥檛 follow anyone鈥檚 rule-book, opening with 鈥淭his House Alive鈥, 鈥淏ig Bang鈥 and 鈥淕entleman Caller鈥, without stopping for breath or applause. It鈥檚 a relentless start which they follow up with some surprising older favourites such as 鈥淭he Martyr鈥 and 鈥淪ink To The Beat鈥.
Proving they don鈥檛 follow anyone鈥檚 rule-book, they tear up their own by playing 鈥淭he Recluse鈥 at half the speed of the album version. Tim Kasher鈥檚 a curious front-man, swaying and jerking, slinking to the floor and rising again. He points to the crowd while singing the most angst-ridden lyrics as if he鈥檚 poking听us right in our souls. The quieter, emotional lines are whispered from behind his hand, like he鈥檚 letting us in on his secrets. At times, Kasher seems possessed, at others simply trollied; either way, utterly captivating.
They close the set with 鈥淓ulogy For No Name鈥, feedback looping as they exit the stage. It doesn鈥檛 look like they鈥檇 planned an encore but the crowd manages to convince them back to play another couple including an extended improv version of 鈥淎rt Is Hard鈥. Art might be hard but Cursive make it look easy.
Michael Wilson
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