'Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?': Bastille’s 15-year tour review

Bastille has that nostalgic feel to their songs that takes you right back to when you were ten and listening to Pompeii on the radio for the first time. When I heard that they were going on tour to Newcastle - specifically focusing on their best songs from the past fifteen years - I knew I had to buy a ticket. Who doesn’t love a bit of 2010s nostalgia indie-pop?

There was a good turnout, which I shouldn’t have been surprised about. When Bastille emerged on stage, performing their hit 'The Things We Lost in The Fire', almost immediately followed by their newer song 'Quarter Past Midnight', I quickly realised how many Bastille songs I knew that I hadn’t immediately connected with the band. Songs like 'Happier', 'Of The Night' and 'Flaws' had the whole arena up and singing. Like one of my housemates said, "Bastille are one of those bands where you wouldn’t recognise song names, but somehow end up knowing all the lyrics."

Dan Smith, lead singer of Bastille, didn’t disappoint. Despite being typically over-polite, saying “thank you for being here” to the crowd after every song, he immediately captured the arena. His voice was impressively clear and in-tune, with no backing track and minimal backup singing. Even midway through the tour, it didn’t seem as though the band were bored of performing their songs - in fact, they performed the songs with such enthusiasm and audience participation that you might have assumed it was opening night. There has to be a shoutout to the guitarist, who was running across the stage for most of the night. I had a seat to the side of the stage, and I never felt like I was being excluded from the performance. 

At £35 per ticket for reserved seating, it was hardly an expensive night. It was refreshing to pay a decent amount for a concert ticket, after the last few major tours that have passed through Newcastle recently. True, Bastille are hardly as popular as the likes of Taylor Swift, or Sam Fender - but the amount of hits they’ve had is enough to make the £35 more than worth it for a night of non-stop entertainment. The setlist was amazing, with Dan Smith admitting to the audience that the band changed the songs every night for variation. Knowing that we might be the only city to hear certain songs made the night even more special. 

Bastille’s concert was, as expected, a feel-good night of forgotten hits. Their new song, 'Save My Soul', is expected to be released in November.