The author attended Bastille’s sold-out show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on March 31. Bastille is a British indie-rock band from London, England. (Kai Lyu/Creative Commons)
Bastille fans filled up the arena for a sold-out show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on March 31st.
Hailing from London, England, British indie-rock band Bastille returned to the states after several years on hiatus to promote their sophomore album, “Wild Wild World.”
Bastille’s show was opened by a group called “Mondo Cozmo.” Mondo Cozmo brought a traditional rock concert vibe to the show. Their set was only about an hour long, and people were still filtering into the arena. Although Mondo Cozmo was fairly unknown to me and their music didn’t evoke the same energetic vibe I get from Bastille’s music, I still found myself rocking along to the beat of each song.
Bastille’s set began after a brief transition of sets. The stage was set by five large TV screens, which projected music videos and camera shots from the crowd throughout the show. To top it off, the band brought the feel of the album alive with the statues of the two men featured on their album cover to overlook the sea of people during the set.
The set began with an introduction from a comical news broadcaster, who introduced the band, and also began their opening song.
The concert began with their hip-hop/funk song “Set It Off!” from their new album, and went directly into one of my personal favorites, “Laura Palmer,” from their debut album, “Bad Blood.”
A few songs later, the band performed the song “Flaws,” during which Smith left the stage and entered the pit. He made his way through the crowd, and actually spent a great deal beside my friend and I, dancing and singing alongside us and other fans.
Toward the end of the set, Smith left the main stage and hopped onto a stage in the back of the arena to perform “Of the Night,” which had the whole arena jumping simultaneously to the beat of the music.
Bastille began their encore, once again, spread out through the arena. Smith and the guitarist, Will Farquarson, were in the balcony performing, “Two Evils.” They later returned to stage for the final two songs, “Icarus” and of course, “Pompeii.”
On top of featuring a balanced mix of songs from both albums, the newest album brings together a diversity of styles, including hip-hip, funk, rock and EDM, that allowed the band to appeal to every person in the crowd.
The set was a continuous two hours of high-energy music accompanied by bright lights and videos projected on the TV screens that surrounded the band. Between the music and the videos, Bastille took us around the world, from the deserts of Africa to the city that never sleeps.
Lucille Littlefield is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at lucille.littlefield@uconn.edu.
