Possibly one of the most thrilling and unique live shows I have seen in quite some time.

This two piece, (the exact opposite of an Orchestra), I think, can only be described as Athemic Anti-matter. The Blackheart Orchestra are vast but delicate, bright yet somehow dark, tender but still sharp. They are the negative square-root of the stadium anthem. Saint Mary’s Church in Lichfield AKA The hub, is possibly the most perfect place for The Blackheart Orchestra to be seen too… The gaping arches of the converted city centre church, the buttressing and the piles of grey stone gave the whole show an arching, almost aching brutalist authenticity which was strangely chilling.

That, and an endless reverb.

If you know the music of The Blackheart Orchestra, then you get it, I know, but if you don’t know them, well you really must put your feet up with a bottle of good red wine and let the album “Hotel Utopia” drench your soul in progressive/synth/folk goodness. It is a “port-wine” album, it needs to be absorbed.

The Blackheart Orchestra requires intimacy, a tenderness in your listening, and a care in your appreciation to accept what they offer. If you rush at this, trust me, you will miss the beauty in their work.

So how about “live”…. Well…

When I tried to imagine how Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington would go about crafting their vast rolling soundscapes, complex musical cathedrals of sound in the live space, I envisaged some stagecraft, in the form of layering, looping, and backing tracks. I was not prepared for two people, four hands, and 13 instruments.

Seeing Rick playing simultaneously on two synths with his right hand, and hammering on the fretboard of a bass guitar with his left was enough of a spectacle, to be honest. But add to this, Chrissy following suit, combing out a complex percussion beneath her own synth melody, and layering over it with a mesmerising vocal and you are getting close to the complexity of this performance. It is now you begin to realise that Rick is also adding the necessary vocal depth, with a chilling and ethereal harmony, and the magic is complete.

Well, Almost….

What comes next will stick in my mind for many years to come. Rick left his instruments, leaving deep and wide “dread note” hanging in the air, echoing through the converted church like a thunder roll, as he casually wandered over to Chrissie to add a second layer onto her top synth. Then, casually returning to his musical “cockpit” just as the last gasp of energy faded from his thunder roll, resuming almost seamlessly where he left off. “Spellbinding” is too obvious, “captivating” is not deep enough, “enchanting” too mystical. I would say, that if you pushed me for a word to describe what you have seen, if you are lucky enough to have spent an evening with The Blackheart’s, it would be “Bewitching”.

Like the finest sleight of hand you simply can’t stop looking, just in case you miss something.