Pendulum Live at Alexandra Palance

The drum and bass group played the classic and the songs which are shaping their future in an outstanding set.

Over the last twenty years, Pendulum have been busting out some of the most iconic drum and bass songs of all time. Mixing dance and rock music elements has given them an iconic sound that has inspired many artists to mould genres together and create new sounds for people to mosh and rave too. The last time they were in the UK, they played some very special secrets set at Reading and Leeds festival which saw them play a set full of their classic tracks. While they did this once again at Alexandra Palance earlier this year, they also played some songs which hinted at the band's future.

The show would be the band's only headline UK performance of the year. Hence, the band wasted no time in playing the very best from their back catalogue kicking things off with songs such as 'Driver' and 'Propane Nightmares' kicking off the show in brilliant style, mixing electronic beats with the sound of guitar and bass in the background sending their fans into a frenzy. Singling along to the chorus of the 'Propane Nightmares' along with lead vocalist Rob Swire was one of the highlights of the show, as well as the remix of 'Blood Sugar' and The Prodigy hit 'Voodoo People' which got a loud cheer from the crowd when the songs interchanged with many people singing the song back to the band. It created an incredible atmosphere and was an impressive way to start the show.

The show would then go further back into the band's discography, with some songs such as 'Encoder' and 'Self Vs Self' not being played live since 2010, making this set a special one. As well as going back to the past, The band teased fans with new music the band has been working on. Both 'Guiding Light' and 'Halo' got their live debuts in London that evening both songs have heavier influences, and the guitars are more centre stage which took me by surprise as the band hasn't really done since the release of their last album 'Immersion' back in 2010. 'Halo' also featured the vocals of Matt Tuck from Bullet For My Valentine which the band confirmed on stage after much speculation online. I have to say listening to the new music and the band confirming these details only gets me hyped for the new music Pendulum will be bringing out and the direction the group are going to go in.

Another thing I'd like to give the band credit for was the amazing visuals which were on display throughout the show. From the start of the show where on 'Driver' you would be speeding through the neon lights of the city, to 'Tarantula' where you'd find tons of Tarantulas running across the screen to right at the end with 'The Tempest' where octopus tentacles would stretch across the screen. All of them looked amazing and fit the themes of each song well. My favourite visuals were for parts one and two of 'The Island' in which in part one, you were taken around a city which was overgrown with plants which looked like something from an apocalyptic film but the bright colours on the screen made it look beautiful. The second part would show this, but the image was a bit more distorted and blurred. There were some issues where the screens would turn off for a second but other than that the visuals at the gig were certainly impressive.

Pendulums London show was an amazing dive into the band's history of bangers as well as a look towards the future and what the band have been up to in recent times which ultimately created an amazing audio and visual experience which fans won't forget. With the band playing at Download Festival and playing a very special show with Limp Bizkit later this year, It is safe to say that anyone looking forward to these shows will not be disappointed as the Aussie band is in fine form as demonstrated here at Alexander Palace.