Despite emerging at a time when the supposed cool of The Strokes and The Libertines reigned supreme, British Sea Power have successfully outlived most of their contemporaries to become a strange sort of cult British national treasure, concerned less with drugs and parties than with books and nature – song lyrics cover such topics as collapsing Antarctic shelves and 1953 floods, and the band once even bagged an appearance on Countryfile. Five years since they last graced Irish shores, BSP’s famously eccentric live show makes a long overdue return. After a reverb-drenched opening set from Belfast dream-pop duo MMODE, BSP…
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British Sea Power live at Cyprus Avenue in Cork. Photos by Silvio Severino
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The last time that British Sea Power visited Belfast, in February 2011, something felt different. The band, by this point a seasoned touring outfit with several joyously received Belfast gigs to their credit, were playing the Spring & Airbrake for the second time, but attendance was down, the atmosphere was flat and the setlist dragged, stuffed full of songs from the lacklustre album they were promoting at the time, Valhalla Dancehall. Just as their previous record, the Mercury-nominated Do You Like Rock Music?, seemed set to propel them skyward, Elbow-style, it looked like the Brighton band were already on a…