Ist Ist prepared for their upcoming European and UK tours with a sold-out packed warm-up show at The Ferret in Preston. Mixing songs from their back catalogue celebrating ten years as a band with tracks from their top 25 album Light A Bigger Fire and giving a three-song insight into the writing sessions for their fifth album, they delighted the fervent crowd with a mammoth twenty-two song set.
With a tour on the horizon, Ist Ist's production rehearsals have been taking place at The Ferret and they decided to finish off their time at one of their favourite independent venues with a show. The Ferret is rammed with people from far and wide who've travelled to see them in such a small space for them these days. The venue itself suffers from its own shape, particularly the bar, and the lack of funds to rip up its design and realign everything, but compensates for this with superb sound and lights far in excess of what you'd expect from a converted pub. Such is the dedication and hard work that owners and operators of small independent venues to overcome physical challenges with the spaces they operate in that The Ferret is still a brilliant place to watch live music.
The huge roar when Ist Ist come down the stairs from the dressing room to the stage, Andy hobbling with his boot that he's wearing to protect his recent broken leg, is loud enough to fill much bigger venues. There's a sense of anticipation and expectation around Ist Ist these days as comes with their recent chart success and their growing following both here and on the continent. Over the course of eighty minutes and twenty-two songs they demonstrate exactly why an increasing number of music lovers are taking them to their heart and kitting themselves out in the band's latest merchandise like the members of an in-the-know group.
The set touches on pretty much all phases of Ist Ist's development from opening up at venues like this in Manchester to filling some of its bigger stages. Night's Arm, the first song they ever wrote and played live, is still present, as are early singles Silence and Jennifer's Lips, brought back into the set as they celebrate a decade as a band. There's old favourites like You're Mine and Black from their debut Architecture. Extreme Greed, from its follow-up The Art Of Lying, feels like a song released a little too early in their trajectory for it to reach the audience it deserves.
Nothing More Nothing Less, Something Has To Give, Stamp You Out and the explosive Emily from third album Protagonists signpost the more expansive sound of their most recent record Light A Bigger Fire that provided them with their big chart breakthrough and all but one of the songs from it are present tonight. Repercussions, Dreams Aren't Enough, Lost My Shadow and The Kiss are huge hall-filling alternative anthems that should be staples on alternative radio whilst Hope To Love Again's glorious goth-disco fusion is irresistible.
The three new songs debuted show Ist Ist's furious insistence on moving forward. Burning has a big riff to it that feels like them exploring new territory, Makes No Difference has a big chorus that will have you singing along to it before the end of the song such the immediacy of it whilst The Echo has a more haunting menacing feel to it that feels both familiar yet pushing the envelope.
There's no encore, just a relentless eighty minutes and twenty-two songs from a band on an upwards trajectory, fully in tune with each other, tight as hell live without losing any emotion or power from the songs that are connecting with a growing number of people and which do their own bidding.
Ist Ist played Stamp You Out, Something Else, Silence, Lost My Shadow, Black, I Can't Wait For You, Repercussions, Makes No Difference, The Kiss, Burning, Something Has to Give, Jennifer's Lips, Extreme Greed, Night's Arm, What I Know, Nothing More Nothing Less, Dreams Aren't Enough, The Echo, XXX, Emily, Hope To Love Again and You're Mine
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