Gaining ever- increasing recognition and praise, and playing coveted festival slots this summer, Bipolar Sunshine kicked off his ‘A Dream For Dreamers’ UK tour on Thursday night at The Joiners. Playing songs from his brilliant EPs Aesthetics and Drowning Butterflies, as well as a few unknown tracks, Bipolar Sunshine’s show was an atmospheric and lively performance that firmly places him as a name to watch out for.
The support came from two very different sounding up and coming female singers. The show was started off by the sweet and chirpy Layla whose charming heartfelt songs were conveyed well in the intimate setting of The Joiners. Songs such as ‘Yellow Circles’ made a moving live performance but her songs are just slightly too saccharine to be wholly affective.
Second on was the moody and sultry Indiana, who captured the crowd’s attention with her ability to make atmospheric, evocative and intelligent dance music. Her standout tracks ‘Solo Dancing’ and ‘Smoking Gun‘ have been getting a lot of deserved radio attention lately, and sounded even more intense and haunting when sung live. Blending dark disco beats and hypnotic lyrics, Indiana warmed up the crowd by getting them in the dancing vibe.
When it was time for Bipolar Sunshine to play, Adio Marchant walked on stage dressed in a trademark jazzy print shirt, looking every inch the uber-chilled frontman. With an effortlessly cool stage presence, not being much of a talker between songs, his charisma and unassuming charm still shines through. His RnB, rap and soul influences make him one of the most unique sounds around – and makes for an extremely enjoyable show. Marchant’s combination of spoken-word and singing created an unexpected vulnerability on tracks such as ‘Where Did The Love Go?’ and ‘Love More Worry Less’, and got the crowd dancing with more uptempo dance songs such as ‘Trouble,’and ‘Rivers’ which are the more dance-inspiring and fun of all his tracks. A few lesser-known songs were still well received by the enthusiastic crowd.
The set flew by at just under an hour but the intense and lively performance made a lasting impression. The band was extremely energetic throughout and looked like they were having a lot of fun on stage. The intimacy of the Joiners and the intensity of the lyrics created a special atmosphere for the show, with Bipolar Sunshine exploring dark themes with a chilled mellow sentiment, combined with the band’s fun performance style, the show came across as one of the most genuine I’d seen.
You can catch Bipolar Sunshine this summer playing at festivals such as Park Life and Secret Garden Party
