Florence and the Machine finds uplift in heartache

Florence and the Machine delves into the intense emotional terrain of heartbreak for the band's highly anticipated new album but, with an audience, it feels like a spiritual revival.

The group led by gusty-voiced show-woman Florence Welch offered an initial live interpretation Friday of the album, "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful," on the opening day of the Governors Ball festival in New York.

Welch, who dyes her hair fiery red and has collaborated with leading fashion houses, has built a loyal following through her theatrical flair and penchant for symbolic abstractions that have drawn comparisons to Kate Bush.

But for "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful," Welch strips down the brash exterior as she confronts head-on a doomed relationship.

The imagery steers into heavy territory, with Welch invoking the Biblical story of Delilah's betrayal and singing of the apostle Jude, "the patron saint of lost causes ... Maybe I've always been more comfortable in chaos."

On a stage with a glittering metallic backdrop, the London-based band brought out a harp and female backup singers who doubled as a brass section that was at once blaring and plaintive.

But Welch performed not with dreariness but with the air of a spiritual guide, telling the crowd that the album was "inspired by a big patch of blue American sky."

"It comes from a time when I was in love with everything, and everyone," the 28-year-old said.

She ended her set with a cheery call on the thousands of Governors Ball devotees, packed on a park on the city's Randall's Island, to reach out and "embrace each other."

And Welch followed her own advice. When she spotted a sign deep in the crowd with a one-word request for a hug, Welch -- to the surprise of the fan, as much as anyone -- obliged.

"You can have a hug, but I don't know how to get to you," Welch said, before instructing the woman to crowd-surf forward. The startled fan, clutching a large leather purse, let the excited audience's hands push her body forward to the stage for a prolonged round of hugs with the band.

"How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful," released Tuesday in the United States, is forecast by industry magazine Billboard to top its chart in the first week. It would be Florence and the Machine's first US number one, although the band's previous two studio albums reached that rank in Britain.

- On-stage injuries -

Florence and the Machine plans to play more major festivals in the coming weeks, including Glastonbury in England and Bonnaroo in Tennessee, and has extended a tour of North America.

The band in April played another leading festival, Coachella in California, where Welch was suddenly overcome by the moment and wound up tearing off most of her clothes, stage-diving -- and breaking her foot.

Governors Ball was her first show with her foot healed and she began gingerly, with a special stairway set up for her, before eventually returning to the on-stage prancing and twirling for which she has become known.

While Welch was unscathed on Friday, another artist was not so lucky -- Slim Jimmy from the rap duo Rae Sremmurd.

In a rainy afternoon set, Slim Jimmy -- known for his animated dance moves -- slipped on the front of the stage and was carried bleeding by security to a concealed spot behind the DJ table.

Slim Jimmy later took the microphone to tell the crowd that a large piece of glass had cut into his leg. A medic rushed through the audience and the rapper was taken to a hospital.

But Slim Jimmy made light of the accident, inviting fans to post videos of his fall on social media.

And Swae Lee, the other half of the duo and Slim Jimmy's brother, insisted on finishing the set which included "My X" -- a song that, with choice words for a former lover, recounts the brothers' own views on failed relationships.
Source: AFP