I never wanted anything from you

Except everything you had

And what was left after that too

After having seen Florence in London on the intimate run of UK gigs prior to the release of High As Hope, it turning out to be one of my favorite albums of the year, and her (once again, as on the Ceremonials tour) skipping Vienna, I was determined to make it to a show elsewhere—a friend of mine was also desperate to see her, and we basically looked at a map of Europe and settled on Barcelona because… why not!

I haven’t been a Flo fan since day one… but almost. I first saw her live on the Lungs tour in a small venue (the hype was already fully underway though, it was hopelessly sold out). Since she didn’t come near me on the Ceremonials tour, the next time I saw her was on the How Blue tour (the second leg of the HBHBHB tour—still my favorite album!) a full six and a half years later, and she’d gone from one of the smaller to the biggest indoor venue in town. I’d made it to the barrier for both of those shows though, and we were determined to be at the front again, and made our way to the Olympic Ring, situated on top of Montjuïc hill, around mid-morning. We got there at 11AM, circled the venue, and since there was no one in sight, we decided to go for a walk to the nearby cemetery (where all of the ghouls come out to play, obviously). That killed about two hours and a half, and by the time we got back, there was still no one around. At this point we get a bit suspicious… with good reason. Turns out the locals knew what we didn’t—the whole square in front of the venue is cleared and closed off at 4PM, and the queue had been outside the entire time! If we’d taken a different way up the hill, we couldn’t have missed it. Alas, we were numbers 76 and 77 in line (a very dedicated fan was keeping track of it, including people’s names), and I spent the next six+ hours trying to come to terms with the fact that we wouldn’t make the barrier. Long gone are the days when you could turn up 30 minutes before doors and just waltz right up to it!

When the time came to be let in, I was surprised that security actually adopted the fans’ numbering system (which I’ve seen in action often… it’s just never worked before, in my experience!)—they’d encouraged newcomers to get a number all afternoon, and now told us to line up by numbers, four per row. We were then slowly escorted across the square to the venue in small groups. The numbering system worked until we were inside… and honestly, once through the door, I find that it’s all fair game—I was determined to be in the front, and just waiting for an opportunity. I was clearly more experienced at these things than the youngsters we had as line buddies (I can’t think of anything that could possibly make me feel older than the girls who said that they were skipping school to be there), and we made the barrier against all odds, after all. We were towards the very left, crammed like sardines, and it wasn’t very comfortable, but both of us are short, and I’d rather be up front on the side than in the central second row, so we were very pleased with ourselves.

Young Fathers were supporting—I’ve seen them before, opening for Massive Attack, with whom they’d collaborated on an EP. I liked them then, but was really curious how this young and “mainstream” crowd would react to their percussion heavy, experimental hip hop… well, they loved it! They know how to put on a show, and either their new material was marked by a change in direction, or they picked their setlist based on what would appeal more to a Florence + the Machine audience, but either way, I enjoyed them just as I did three years ago, it was great. After their set, the carpet was removed from the stage to expose Flo’s weird new wooden stage set-up—I quite liked it, and to be honest I was just thrilled by the lack of flowers on stage—it had been getting worse and worse with each tour, she was about to have a full jungle on stage, and I’m glad she went for a minimalist design this time!

The band came on stage first, with Flo trailing behind, coming into view once everyone else was ready behind their respective instruments—it’s been forever since I’ve heard an applause or cheer this loud, it filled my heart. There aren’t many artists I’d consider deserving of the massive commercial success and exponential growth she’s experienced, and even less who’d react to the worshipful fandom she’s subjected to with such wholesome grace.

The first song was June, as on the record—it’s in the album’s bottom half for me, although it’s grown on me massively with repeat listens since it was released. I never appreciated it as an opener until seeing it live: The punctuating, minimalist instrumental accents that make the first section seem almost a capella until backing vocals and a fuller instrumentation start embellishing it until it climaxes at the end… it gave me goosebumps, and her vocals were so much fuller live than on the record, which sounds impossible, but this song was so vastly improved! I love its significance as a tribute to the Pulse victims, and I find the transition into Hunger to be perfect on the record, so I was glad they kept it for the live show and segued straight into it. It’s one of the songs I first heard at the preview gig, and it’s fun to look back and see how my feelings towards it have changed: I found it a bit too poppy and repetitive in its chorus upon first exposure, but it’s become one of my very favorites! I love the hoo-hoo’s, the lyrics, and the way she plays with her vocal range—I love the way her voice goes up on certain words, the effect is stunning, and she played with it even more live. She hit every note despite running and jumping all over the stage, and put in a longer pause after “and for a moment…” which brought on a huge cheer that all but drowned out the final “…I forget to worry“.

Between Two Lungs was never a favorite of mine… until she opened the London show with it, and it took my breath away, that is. I was so glad she kept it on the setlist and I got to hear it again now that I appreciate its beauty! The vocal build-up in this one may just be the most stunning example of the powerful set of lungs she’s endowed with to be found in her entire catalogue. She addressed the audience for the first time after this string of three songs, over the intro of Only If For a Night, giving us a warm smile and saying “Gracias, Barcelona“, pronouncing the city the correct way, which was kind of adorable. I don’t know why, but I am surprised by how soft-spoken she is every single time I hear her speak, even though I’ve seen her often enough to know better. She just has such a strong voice when she sings that it makes for such an endearing contrast that always catches me a bit off-guard! She encouraged everyone who’d bought seats to stand up and dance with her during this next song.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Ceremonials when it was first released, and as a result, I’ve snubbed many songs off it for a long time. While I’ve come to love the record in the intervening years, this was never a favorite (and I would’ve much rather heard a different one, like What the Water Gave Me, which is one of my all-time favorites), but… wow, she really knows how to completely flip my opinion around with a single live performance. She was also an absolute delight to watch, she moves with such slow grace, and during an interlude she spun in circles with her beautiful half-see-through dress and long hair billowing around her, she truly looks like an ethereal water nymph. She told us we were a good time after it, and followed up with a favorite of mine, Queen of Peace. It’s so huge, dramatic and makes me feel like Joan of Arc, I just adore that big band sound when the horn section comes in! It had the entire floor section dancing… well, more like writhing, since we were so packed, but it’s the will that counts—but it’s just physically to stand still while this song is playing.

I don’t remember exactly during which part of the show it was, but somewhere around this point in the set—she said that they were a British band, and a European band, and would remain a European band no matter what, going on about the importance of empathy, compassion and love beyond borders, encouraging us all to hold hands, which was a bit awkward (and didn’t last very long). She introduced the next number as “a song about the place where I grew up in and where I still live…” and there were such deafening cheers when people realized it was going to be South London Forever that she remarked on how strange it was to have Barcelona cheer for South London… because no one in South London would cheer for themselves. This song is one I connect with springtime, and it really makes me feel some type of way, and since it’s perhaps one of the most autobiographical songs she’s ever written, it felt really special to see it live… if even possible, it was even better in a live setting!

Patricia was my instant favorite when she played it ahead of the album’s release, and it’s number one spot is still undisputed—how could it be, when she confirmed that it was about Patti Smith, my first love? She said that the woman it was about (she didn’t mention her by name at the show) told her that she was with her in spirit whenever she sings this… but that the angry, middle part isn’t about her, but about toxic masculinity (“something I don’t consider a problem in my audience, because I know you all know how to love, respect, and cherish women“), and we can rage along with her and make it about whomever we want and need it to be. The intro was quite different, the arrangement ever so slightly changed, and the entire arena clapped along at the end, which made the outro even more gorgeous. It was also the first song during which the “curtains” unraveled: I still have no clue what the stage is supposed to represent, but it reminds me of a sailboat.

Dog Days Are Over was the first Florence + the Machine song I ever heard, and I’ll always love it… but just once, I want to hear it played live continuously again, without the interruption in the middle to tell us to turn to a stranger to embrace them and tell them that we love them, which makes me so uncomfortable. She then said that she was going to ask us to do something which will feel weird and scary, but we can do it together… and had us put away our phones (“and I want to you help me out here, if you see anyone with their phones up, I want you to lightly tap them on the shoulder and say ‘excuse me please, would you mind putting your phone way, we are trying to have an experience’… or if you want the very proper English way of saying it, you say ‘oi! put your focken phone away!’“), and told us to think of something we want to let go of, or someone we want to send love to, and to jump when she sings “run“, and let it all out. I’m old and it was exhausting and left me out of breath, but it was beautiful!

Ship to Wreck was next up—I was obsessed with this song when HBHBHB came out, and it’s what rekindled my love for her music after not having connected with Ceremonials straight away, but I have kind of played it to death… but it’s always such a fun one to see, even though I thought this performance a bit weak, her voice sounded a bit thin (for her standards, anyway, not for anyone else’s)—maybe I wasn’t the only one left out of breath by the relentless jumping at the end of Dog Days! The staging was wonderful for this one, with lights shining through holes in the backdrop fabric to create beams of light, it looked gorgeous! One of my personal highlights followed, Moderation, a song I adore, although I can understand why she didn’t feel that it should be included on HAH—it would’ve been completely out of place on that album, while it would’ve fit on HBHBHB beautifully. I’m just glad she decided to release it as a stand-alone single, and to include it on the setlist, it’s incredible and was a rare love at first listen for me.

Sky Full of Song was next up, and it’s still one of my favorites on the record, despite the unusual lack of an explosive chorus! The next song was introduced as the first song they ever wrote as a band, with a killer hangover… “thank you for keeping it safe for ten years, and I guess some good things do come out of hangovers!“. The crowd used their phones to make stars to breach her darkness, and it was the most beautiful thing. I wasn’t quick enough in snapping a decent picture when most people had their lights on, so the one below doesn’t do the scene justice at all, there were so many more! It’s been a decade since Lungs came out, and for some reason, I always used to mix this song and Hurricane Drunk up—probably because I’ve heard her tell the hangover story before and my brain made weird connections. Well, it finally clicked at this show, and I’ll never again have to suffer the uncertainty of not being sure what song I’m hearing. The percussionist added in a heartbeat sound to go with the relevant lyric, which was a really nice touch.

My second favorite song off the new record followed, 100 Years—I don’t know what it’s really about, but last year, when HAH was released, marked the centennial of women gaining the right to vote in the UK, and I like to think that there’s a connection. I also can’t think of another Florence + the Machine song with an expletive in its lyrics, and I just love the way she spat “hubris is a bitch“—the live version of this song is superior to the studio version in every single way, it’s made to be sung in a room with several hundred arms reaching for her. The set ended the same way it had at the London show, with two songs where she keeps active: Delilah and What Kind of Man. She was completely out of sight during the former because she ran to the back of the stalls and into the crowd, and not even the camera guys chasing her could get a clear shot of her, and all they could show on the screens was people’s heads and them parting like the seas for Moses, while the latter was sung standing atop the crowd and just makes for the most incredible, show-stopping set-closer!

My most anticipated song of the night finally made an appearance during the encore, thank the heavens—I would’ve been pretty broken up if they hadn’t played it! Big God is my third favorite on the album, and was another rare instance of instant love—I love the low, rumbling piano, the lyrics, and her going all demonic at one point—it reminds me of Soap&Skin in the best of ways, and it was everything I hoped it would be live! She told us that she needed us to be her choir on the final song of the night, and had us practice before launching into Shake It Out—a song I disliked until I heard it played on a 7866 pipe organ. It finally clicked and I’ve finally liked it ever since! She had us sing a part on our own while we were showered in glitter confetti, it was incredible, and it’s just such an uplifting song to end the night on, I don’t see her ever taking it off the setlist, no matter how many more hits she’ll produce.

What a show! I’ve been on a “sad boys with loud electric guitars” kick for the past year, and that’s all the sort of stuff I’ve seen live this year so far, and I love it, but having this angelic lady lift my soul with her baroque pop in a huge arena was a refreshing, 360° change, and I pretty much levitated down Montjuïc hill. Absolutely worth traveling all the way to Spain for 48 hours with one of my favorite concert buddies.

Setlist June

Hunger

Between Two Lungs

Only If For A Night

Queen of Peace

South London Forever

Patricia

Dog Days Are Over

Ship to Wreck

Moderation

Sky Full of Song

Cosmic Love

100 Years

Delilah

What Kind of Man » E n c o r e «

Big God

Shake It Out