The Laurels @ The Farmer And The Owl, November ’13

A lot has been said about The Laurels and I was super-amped to see what they offer in terms of a live show.

Unfortunately they assed around, not getting onto the stage until 8 minutes after their allocated starting time. Once on stage they all proceeded to tune, begging the question: why not do it offstage beforehand ?

Tuning took at least another 3 minutes and by the time they reset some mikes for the drums and actually started to play, the damage had been done … professionalism makes the audience receptive – in this case, the slow start and continual fucking about had a negative impact on those who had paid for and expected a more professional performance.

Between every song there was awkwardness on stage, more and more tuning, pedal adjustments, confusion about songs and zero interaction with the audience.

Despite playing well, their sloppy approach soiled what otherwise could have been a better set.