ENGINEERS take the stage for their sold out show at Islington Academy looking terribly nervous and almost embarrassed to be here. Confronting them is a crammed front row full of photographers, desperate to get some pictorial action on the back of the high praise this unassuming band received for their self titled debut album. This premature hero-worship and press recognition is clearly not a scenario Engineers have been banking upon.
Nonetheless, the venue is packed with potential devotees, here to discover if the nu-shoe-gazing craft of the band's album can be reproduced and bettered by Engineers in concert. And, while it's not fair to say they are overawed by their potential disciples, it's also reasonable to suggest Engineers are at best controlled and workmanlike this evening. Maybe it's the the environment - such a sweatbox atmosphere doesn't suit the drifting, cavernous swoon of tunes like "Soon," and "Come In Out" - but too many tracks suffocate tonight and the emotional quality of the recorded Engineers sound gets lost in translation live.
It doesn't help that the band is cramped on a small stage, but the lead singer looks limp and never interacts with the crowd either. He remains completely motionless throughout the set, and - even though bands even negligibly connected with the whiff of 'shoegazing' are often lost in concentration and hardly grade A showmen - his lack of stage presence only serves to deflate things even further.
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It's frustrating, too, because Engineers are capable of creating music that has a likeable depth and scope, yet the best of their darker, slower material struggles to take on a life of its' own outside of the recorded versions and live they present a set of songs that seem reluctant to change pace at all.
Admittedly, new single "Forgiveness" gets the crowd moving their weight from one foot to other momentarily, while "Nature's Edit" and "A Given Right" at least bring some light and shade into play by adding synth and guitar meltdown crescendoes. but the creeping feeling of playing safe remains.
Technically, Engineers provide a faultless, if economical and rather soulless performance, without ever getting out of second gear. Sadly, though, this perfunctory attitude is not going to be enough in the long run and by the time they leave us, they receive only a smattering of polite applause and no-one's quick to call them back for an encore. All well and good, but faint heart never won fair lady, and Engineers will have to inject a whole lot more soul and even (shock horror) learn to take risks if they want to outlast the pack and stay with us for the long haul.
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