Riverside on a cold 4th of December. The sequinned jacket of James Bagshaw shone down on the Geordie crowd. James stood over them—his bushy hair creating the silhouette of a novelty-sized microphone. His Syd Barett-like face, and a nose like a Greek god, was pale white under the Riverside lights. Guitar in hand, and band in his pocket, Temples set the tone from the start.
The lads looked as swanky as your da on the pull in the 70s–enough long, Ramones-esque hair to go round. Belting out of the speaker, Bagshaw’s voice—that voice—yo-yoed up and down like a trapeze. The dream light show quickly became a strobe party: flickering yellow, blue, red to the beat. Even technology itself couldn’t keep up.
Sadly, the talking wasn’t as good as the walking–the chat and tuning coincided far too much. We also didn’t need to be told when every song is new song. However, this was a complete performance, topped off by a huge slap of jamming at the end. Sweet.
Listen to Temples on Spotify and Apple Music. Get the latest edition of our print magazine featuring interviews with Black Honey, Mattiel, Matt Maltese and Molly Burch HERE.
