Does revolution imply progress? Surely not because progress is quite relative and subjective. Revolution does, however, imply forced change, and The Beautiful Girls have changed.

A magician in his own right, former rave DJ Lucky Fonz III put in the groundwork with the audience. The scruffy blonde took to the stage with his acoustic guitar and tried to woo the audience. Despite nostalgically spouting his simple folk music and flirting with the audience, his charm gradually wore off. Furthermore, his performance didn’t generate a vibe suited to prefacing a traditionally foot-stomping TBG performance.

As the lights dimmed and the crowed inched closer to the stage, The Beautiful Girls came forth to try to seal the deal. Opening with Generals, of their pop-friendly, hit-and-miss album Ziggurats, must have been a calculated choice. It worked well as the initial drum and echo interplay of the song is well-matched to the opening of a show. The interplay can also, thankfully, override the song’s protest-orientated, yet highly sedated, content when played live. The show saw most of the new album played; including the poppy Royalty, The Police-esque Sir, Your Fashion Has the Cold Heart of a Killer, singalong-prone In Love and patriotic Under a Southern Sky. The radio-gem that is I Thought About You came surprisingly early in the set and, even more distressingly, was not accompanied by its usual handclaps. The show provided something for both young and old fans. However, TBG played it safe and only included songs from their back catalogue that were guaranteed to produce a loud response, like Periscopes ( Morning Sun ), Music, Black Bird ( Learn Yourself ), Ashes and The Wrong Side of Town ( We’re Already Gone ). Nonetheless, their inclusion provided the reggae, surf vibe a lot of the audience were very eager to soak in. Interestingly, the songs that generated most movement were old tracks.

In many ways, this tour is pivotal in TBG’s history book as it tests their newly evolved sound. Bruce Braybrook ’s drum work is most influential in both the sound and live performances. Braybrook ensured that the audience’s heads and feet were kept active; and his drum work made up for the lack of thick, distinct bassline. Old fans may be disappointed by the lack of prominent and heavy bass and the stripping back of many pre- Ziggurats songs, which was characteristic of tonight’s performance. Paulie B ’s distorted bass solo was half pleasing, but that’s about it. His backing vocals didn’t support Mat McHugh’s distinct singing, he had little stage presence and little groove. There is doubt whether he can fill the large shoes he has opted to fit into. But then again, maybe he doesn’t intend to play that role and wants solely to maintain the rhythm. And maybe McHugh, the sole founding member, doesn’t intend to play his characteristic role either. He can play guitar, but opted to try to impress through simple chord work and bending strings. The majority of his improvised instrumental work, and the group’s ‘jams’, stretched out and contained little impressive substance. Furthermore, he had his back turned when he wasn’t singing and generally engaged little with the crowd.

Tonight, The Beautiful Girls toured their latest album. An album that is distinct from their praised back catalogue, but one that can gradually grow onto listeners because of its increased instrumental diversity and change in pace. But tonight’s performance failed to deliver the album adequately – this unfortunately was an instance where the album is better than the performance. Tonight, The Beautiful Girls were not as beautiful as they could have been.