Miles Kane at Omeara

This small venue is tucked away near London Bridge station, so named after the street it is on. It has an artful dishevelment in the vein of Wilton’s Music Hall or Earth Hackney: exposed plaster and scenic disrepair. 

Miles Kane was back to showcase material from his forthcoming album, Change the Show. The show started early doors (8pm with no warm-up acts) for a crisp one-hour set that ended at 9pm sharp.

Crisp indeed, but there has to be a mention of the bar staff: leaving basically one man to serve all the queuing fans is not really fair. The venue itself is tiny and felt like the tickets had been oversold – for intimate read “hotter than a sauna”, literally. Live venues obviously need to make money after the chaos of the pandemic, but at the same time overfilling a space where there is no air conditioning and no one checking Covid passes feels unfair on the punters. So, it’s a nice looking venue but those things grated.

It was a shame because Kane is a great performer. Dapper on the small stage, the Birkenhead native was having a great time, as was his band. He started with high-energy songs Rearrange and Inhaler from his 2011 debut as a solo artist, The Colour of the Trap. Blame It on the Summertime, of the upcoming album, also went down a storm. Coup de Grace (from the singer’s 2018 album of the same name) prompted a mass singalong; it’s a rampant little song that turns a highbrow title into a surprisingly catchy chorus.

The audience were treated to a first-time performance of Change the Show and Nothing’s Ever Gonna Be Good Enough. The sound was glam rock infused, which is fitting since Kane’s voice is very redolent of Marc Bolan’s. There’s an obvious likeness, too, to the Arctic Monkeys, which is unsurprising since Kane is in the Last Shadow Puppets with Alex Turner and they are the same age and from similar backgrounds. The Last Shadow Puppets song Standing Next to Me was a highlight, with its propulsive, enigmatic tune. Kane is a great musician: a mesmerising guitarist with a pleasingly retro sound. 

However, a review is for the whole experience of the gig, not only the artist.  A plea to the intimate venues of London: for the love of god, invest in some cooling fans. Not everyone is willing or able to withstand crazy heat to see live music. 

Jessica Wall
Photos: Virginie Viche

For further information and future events visit Miles Kane’s website here.

Watch a live video of Change the Show here: