Young Love @ The Rob Roy

For any band who flirt with the idea of adding performance art to their live show, there is always the issue of how much they are willing to toe the line between good performance and good music. As a band led by two artists who have been working collaboratively since high school (and featuring three members from my high school art class) Young Love not only flirt with that idea, they take it out for dinner and dancing, twirling back and forth, over and under that line.

The focus of tonight’s show is clearly on front men Royce and Gavan. The performance starts from the moment they step on stage. On top of a solid rhythm laid down by the bass and drums, Royce – looking like a cross between 60’s hipster and 80’s nerd – approaches the microphone only to bark wildly, jump all over Gavan and proceed to lick his guitar strings. Gavan returns the favour before grabbing Royce’s wrist, an act which sends him into spasms of electric shock, eventually falling to the floor.

In a band such as this it comes as no real surprise to find that the normally quite and reserved Royce takes the focus as lead singer, sounding similar to early Nick Cave which perfectly suited their late dark ‘80’s indie rock inspired sound. Yet Gavan is not willing to give up all the spotlight, often jumping into the crowd while playing, drawing the crowd into the performance, and spearing punters with the head of his guitar. Royce soon followed with a jump backwards into the space, perfectly timed for an audience member experiment with a gig flyer and a lighter to rain down around him.

But every time the art seemed too much, it was anchored into place by a solid and musical rhythm section. Drummer Sam provided each song with it’s own unique style and feel through his varied and compelling drumming, while Daniel’s bass lines were the musical driving force of many of the songs. Indeed the few songs near the end without Daniel seemed to suffer for his absence. The last song saw Sam switch from drums to keyboard, lined up next to Gavan (who had switched a few times between guitar and keyboard during the set) as Royce played guitar and sang on his knees, a fitting closing image for such a show.

Not quite art, not just music, Young Love seem to provide more than both. Whatever it was, it was compelling, and I left with a smile, and a desire to return to their next performance.