Warpaint returned to UK shores in June, as the opening act for Harry Styles’ Meltdown Festival, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Having previously played as part of Christine and the Queens’ Meltdown Festival back in 2023, the venue felt like familiar territory for the American four-piece.
They took to the stage at the sensible time of 8:30 and opened proceedings with the dreamy Burgundy, from their 2009 EP (and debut) Exquisite Corpse. This release would pleasingly be revisited, a further 4 times over the course of the evening. Burgundy was followed by the achingly beautiful Love Is to Die, a song they could play for an hour and I’d still be happy and want more.
One band member mentioned that they hadn’t performed for 18 months(?), and I detected a little rustiness, which is but a minor gripe. The evening flowed with gorgeous melodic harmonies, including Elephants, Undertow, the excellent Disco//Very and a very Cure-like Krimson. The Cure were a band often mentioned in relation to Warpaint in their early days, and whilst I’ve always understood the reasoning, tonight was the first time I really heard it.
Warpaint are a band I love, yet rarely play their albums at home. Then I see them live and leave in a trance like state of happiness, and questioning why is it, that I don’t listen to them more often. Even watching live performances on YouTube, they give off this Zen-like aura, they are a band that needs to be seen.
They left the stage far too soon, although a near 90-minute set is hardly short, but I'm greedy for more, so hopefully they’ll return to the UK sooner rather than later.
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