Fashion icon Florence Welch on stage

One morning last year, I was awoken from a micro sleep whilst watching MTV.  A fresh face – this was no sexy bitch à la Akon or a Black Eyed Pea.  A fiery redhead popped out of the screen, singing about fear, amidst some sort of oddball, bejeweled Pagan ceremony.  Hello Florence + The Machine!

It’s hard to tell whether to refer to the band as ‘she’ (23 year old London born Florence Welch) or ‘they’ (the ‘machine’, band members Rob Ackroyd, Chris Hayden, Isabella Summers and Tom Monger).  It doesn’t really matter though – on stage together, they are more than a well-oiled machine – they are a cannonball of sound and energy.

Stockholm’s chance to see Florence and co heralded the beginning of March, at indie venue Debaser.  Despite a mega mix up with ticketing, meaning that some people were restricted to the ‘glass menagerie’ nosebleed section, the combination of anticipation and dogged tantrum throwing seemed to satisfy any (rightly) disgruntled fans.  Whether you were grooving in the front row or chilling out from further afield, Welch’s manic dancing and powerpacked vocals united her audience.

Opening with haunting odes to love (“Between Two Lungs”) and the understatedly beautiful (“My Boy Builds Coffins”), the band also got feet tapping with ditties such as “Howl”, “Drumming Song” and “Kiss with a Fist”.  A personal favourite was the dreamlike “Blinding”, with its melancholy strings and beats drawing out even more layers live.

Welch has said that Florence + the Machine’s debut “Lungs” is all “about boys!” but it’s hard to imagine such basely human inspiration as the backbone.  Perhaps it’s Monger’s harp that gives such a mystical overlay to the band’s repertoire.  There’s no denying the raw whimsy of the lyrics (mostly co-written by Welch and keyboardist Summers), which were in no way diminished by the power of the gig.  As one fellow audience member said, “Hurricane Drunk” makes you feel like having your heart broken too with the line, “I’m going out, I’m gonna drink myself to death…”

A renowned arty type, perhaps it would come as a surprise that Welch would be a great teacher.  Fellow fan and friend Ali exclaimed, “That’s the kind of control I want in my classroom!” when, mid-song, Welch hushed the audience into silence, then urged everyone to imitate her jumping, “and do it loads and loads!”

If there was one tinge of disappointment, it was that the vocals of “Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)” weren’t quite as searing as expected.  All Welch’s talk of lambs and knives, Midas and sunlight, weren’t done justice by her lower pitch here.  However, Florence Welch’s flaming hair and gown, eccentric dance moves and charming acknowledgment of the Machine are what Stockholm will remember.

In “Blinding”, Welch sings “No more dreaming like a girl, so in love with the wrong world”.  Well, the world loves her, and it’s easy to see why.