On their new album Give Me The Future, Bastille are deeply wary of what that particular wish in its title might bring. The band’s fourth album, which reached the top spot in the UK album charts upon its release in February, is a concept record based around ideas of artificial intelligence and mass surveillance from tech companies, all filtered through the messaging of a fictional organisation called Future Inc.
The company in question was also an anchor of the band’s ambitious, highly stylised show at The O2 last night, which raised similar questions to those asked on the album, before going on to provide joyous answers. Split into various segments, or ‘sessions’ as a robotic voice from Future Inc. called them, the band played five or so songs through – from the anthemic joy of Laura Palmer to the gritty rock of WHAT YOU GONNA DO??? – before frontman Dan Smith would periodically lie down in a reclining chair and the robot would ask him where he wanted to go next in a routine somewhere between a futuristic video game and psychological examination.
Though undoubtedly kitschy, this running conceptual theme bound the show’s messaging together strongly, and provided the necessary pomp required at an arena show this big. The extra sheen and drama was needed, especially when Smith and his unassuming bandmates often lacked the natural star quality needed to charm a room like this without added bells and whistles.
Luckily, they also had a famous new friend in tow to help them with that. Halfway through the show, Bastille welcomed Riz Ahmed to the stage to perform Promises, his spoken-word interlude from Give Me The Future, and the actor’s cameo was the most devastating encapsulation of the show’s narrative across the entire night. “The future could be all we need or plugs in a dustbin,” he roared forcefully on a fierce, fantastic recital of the song.
Encouragingly — and on purpose, you’d suspect — it was the set’s warmest, most human moments that connected best on the evening, set against the harsh technological sheen of the show’s production. “Who knows what the future holds? Don’t matter if I got you,” Smith decided towards the set’s close, while on the huge screen behind him, Future Inc’s connection dipped and news of a ‘SYSTEM FAILURE’ flashed up.
As Smith admitted before closing track Shut Off The Lights, it was a narrative that’s “cheesy as f***,” but a resolution it was hard to resist smiling at regardless. From the blissful radio hits of Pompeii and Happier through a glorious Rhythm of the Night cover and Ahmed re-emerging on stage with his awestruck little nephew for the set’s climax as confetti cannons exploded, the feelgood factor won out in the end.
