Speak to some of your friends and they will, even in England in December 2009, still not have heard of Florence and the Machine. If they 'kind of' have, and they have you pinned as some sort of amusing muso, they'll get round to asking, half chortling, what exactly is this 'machine' that Florence has. If you're a sad geek, you'll be able to tell them that originally it was a joke of a band name, then it was Dev Hynes and his guitar.

Which is my point at this juncture. Dev, worthy though he is, remains a cult outsider. In the time since he and Florence jumped on hotel beds together, it is hard to believe just how far the girl has come.
Let's talk about pulling power for starters. I've seen Florence three times in 2009. First was the NME awards tour where she opened for White Lies, Friendly Fires and Glasvegas. Opened, as in on stage at 7.45pm when the crowd were hardly in. She was unstoppable on that occasion though, irrepressibly kept coming back on when the, erm, big boys were supposed to be in the limelight. I didn't even stay for all of Glasvegas, it was obvious I'd already seen the star of the night.

Next time round was in a church in Salford in June. Small, intimate, she even posed for photos for a friend of mine. When she played, she asked us all to come down the front please. That was just before "Lungs" came out, and that changed everything. I was even supposed to see her in September. I got double booked by the ticket people and the tour was so heavily over-subscribed they rushed this new tour on. Which takes us bang up to date and a packed Manchester Apollo.


I got there with my two minders half way through the support. After a bit of debate, Alice worked out that it was the Temper Trap. A bonus as I'd wanted to see them and they were pretty damn decent, despite accusations of being the band your dad would rave over. A large number of the crowd were singing along, it won't be long before they are bigger. In fact they are off touring Europe in a couple of weeks time, lasting right through till Feb, and then back to the UK with their own headline tour, supported all the way through by the excellent Joy Formidable. I had my Joy Formidable tee shirt on tonight and had my hand shaken by complete strangers as a result.

And so on to Florence - greeted as she came on with lots of love and excitement. She opened with 'Coffins' and 'Kiss with a Fist,' which says a lot about her strength in depth, these used to be the highlights, kept for the end. Ms. Welch was in fine form, hyped with energy to spare. She was resplendent in a full length gown, the first time I've seen her without her legs out, but this didn't stop her running back and forth. Even from half way back by the mixing desk, you could see she was having a ball and seemed truly stoked to be there. We were encouraged to sing along, it certainly helps to stop people shushing my vocal attempts, if you have the lead to do so from the stage!


She had a few non-obvious, non-Lungs songs in the set and mentioned this. She played 'Falling', a b-side from the 'You've Got The Love' single, and when the words to this were sung back to her with with absolute gusto, she was visibly touched.

I have to say that I expected a lot from this tonight, maybe too much. It might have been where I was in the audience, half way back unlike my usual mosh pit tendencies. But being brutally honest, for whatever reason, it didn't really kick in for me until 'You've Got The Love,' the last song before the encore. When it did, it did properly though, and I was carried along big style. I might not have been alone in this, given that Florence took the time out to 'teach' us how to dance by jumping up and down. A bit of pogo-ing always helps I find.

The stage show was fabulous, thanks largely to the fantastic lighting projecting backdrops and multiple spotlights like a multi-pointed crown of light. Thanks Ed (the lighting guy) not just for adding to the show but for donating his set list to me at the end. The other part of how far she has come is her voice. Always powerful, it's now at the point that I doubt if she really needs amplification, and I'm half surprised there wasn't a traffic incident outside on the A6. Lungs indeed.

Two songs in the encore, 'Dog Days,' by which time I was proper shouting along, and 'Rabbit Heart' to finish.


During this my wishes were fulfilled when Florence started her climbing antics, long flowing dress notwithstanding, up onto the speaker stacks stage left. At the Apollo they've also got those hanging speaker stacks, huge things like something from the Borg mother-ship, and bloody hell but they swayed on their wires when she stood up and banged her head on them. An anxious chap on stage in a sports coat, managerial looking type, looked worried while she pranced atop the stack, as well he might, they didn't look too safe to me either. Eventually he helped her down.

It might have said it all when the woman standing next to me - who had been commenting on my photography skills all night - said "I've seen Kylie and I've seen Coldplay, but that is just the best thing I've ever seen." My two companions Alice and Kate pronounced themselves proper entranced as well. In the hours since then, Rabbit Heart has been the sound track of my weekend, thanks to the internal jukebox. It's still playing now. "Raise it up" indeed.