Tuesday marked the second-night Icelandic rock/blues band Kaleo took the stage at the Olympia. The band are currently touring Europe as part of their ‘Kaleo Express’ tour.

Proceeding Kaleo, Tennessee natives Judah & the Lion were faced with the task of warming up the crowd (I actually don’t even know how to describe them… think Folk/ rock/ with an electronic element. EDIT: their album title ‘Folk Hop N’ Roll’ pretty much sums it up) and for me, they were the highlight of the night. Their energy on stage was something totally unexpected. Lead vocalist Judah Akers said that it feels strange performing to a seated crowd – but he certainly didn’t let that that get in the way of their performance. Highlights from their set include Going to Mars, a song that encompasses the message of empowering people to do whatever they want to do with their life, and their hit track Take It All Back – an irresistibly catchy song with a banjo and mandolin which I haven’t been able to get out of my head since Tuesday.

Kaleo’s set comprised of a large chunk of material from ‘A/B’. Starting the night with Broken Bones a gritty rock/blues song, before moving into the captivating I Can’t Go on Without You, a song which starts with mesmerising acoustic fingerpicking and whistling by vocalist JJ Julius Son before slowly building to incorporate the entire band. The subject matter deals with the conflicting emotions of being in love and being cheated on, with the variety in the instrumentation (the softness of the acoustic guitar to a distorted section in the middle of the track) and vocals conveying this. This is followed by All the Pretty Girls, a track with beautifully showcases Julius’ amazing vocal range. Other highlights included a rendition of Nancy Sinatra’s Bang Bang, as well as their hit Way Down We Go.

Kaleo is the type of band that sound better live than on a record. The band as a whole are incredibly talented musicians and live performing definitely suits their style and showcases a more emotional side to their music. The versatility of their sound leads me to believe that they’ll only get bigger over the next couple of years. After all, last year they were playing venues half the size they are playing now so I’m looking very forward to seeing what 2018 has in store for them!