Had Stevie Nicks made an aerobics video circa 1978 it might have looked not unlike Florence Welch’s performance tonight. Barefoot beneath billowing white flares, red hair tumbling down over a loose tan blouse, she concludes opener What the Water Gave Me by leading the crowd in a bout of bouncing before dramatically frisbeeing her tambourine into the kickdrum.
Throughout Ship to Wreck she sprints across the stage throwing in the graceful pirouettes that looked so impressive silhouetted against the night sky when in June, Florence + the Machine – by a fateful twist of Dave Grohl’s leg – became Glastonbury headliners.
What an apt analogy the “machine” part of their name proves when you see this band working up through the gears live. Welch’s six backing musicians and five backing vocalists aren’t so much as introduced. Harp, organ, horns, guitar, shuddering drums and lush choral harmonies are the precision-tooled parts in a grand orchestral arena rock engine that’s practically purring in support of the transatlantic chart-topping album How Big How Blue How Beautiful.
Welch welcomes the ire of Hydro stewards after inviting everyone to “get high” and clamber up on one another’s shoulders, before Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) excites one fan enough to chuck a bra at her heroine’s face. In an incongruously soft, tiny, polite speaking voice thoroughly at odds with her bellows singing, Welch later recalls previous “very drunk” Glasgow shows at King Tut’s and the ABC – drunk shows presumably being something she’s no longer in the habit of, lest her dizzying pseudo-balletic dance moves put her flat on her backside.
Harnessing the heady euphoria of Dog Days Are Over, Welch instructs everyone to hug, declare their love for each other, then strip off a garment and twirl it around their heads. Then suddenly she’s topless, semi-streaking along the front row. Were that not already plenty more than anyone had bargained for, What Kind of Man and Drumming Song lead a final energetic surge where a warm-down would suffice.
• At Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, 15 September. Box office: 0844-493 6666; at Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, 17 September. Box office: 0843-373 3000. Then touring.
