A Beautiful Bomb in Belfast - Reckless Love @ The Lime Light

There not many bands can get away with playing a song called "Beautiful Bomb" in Belfast and completely swerve any kind of political meanings, but Reckless Love can because all their songs are just about *ahem* well lets just say they're all about women.


I fell in love with The Band Reckless Love a few years when I wandered into a Massive tent at Download Festival and the first thing I saw was a man in spandex basically kicking his own head, then I heard the music, the high notes of The Darkness, the sentimentality of Def Leppard and the growling of Motley Crue.  I was blown away then and i have to say that when I saw them for the second time in The Lime light on Thursday 1st Dec I was just as blown away.

Te arrived just in time to see the support take to the stage - The Dirty youth.  A young band of 3 guys playing Guitar, Bass and Drums and a female lead singer.   They had catchy choruses, a pink haired lead good looking singer and probably a pair of GHD straighteners each, because if they shared a pair I don't think they would last too long.  The comparison to Paramore was certain to come, or as my cousin Dave who I was  with put it "They're like Paramore, if Paramore had a more than one song"  they did remind me of Paramore but more broody, growling and with more than one song.  By the end of the set I was sort-of won over, perhaps if i knew the songs better they would grow on me.


Next up we waited with bated breath as (Finlands own) Reckless Love took to the stage. I was a tad nervous as I had spent the last few days listening to their new album "Animal" and i wasn't convinced it was as good as their self-titled debut.  I needed have worried, from the lead singer Ollie Herman's first fist pump and opening wail it was obvious that the new material was sounding just as good as the old stuff.  As they blasted through new songs like "Dirty Dreams", "Hot" and "Speed"  they sounded just as good as old favourites "Beautiful Bomb", "Wild Touch" and "Paradise". They bantered in between songs too as Ollie told the young the young guys in the audience that at their age he "didn't know how to fuck either".  A person favourite of mine was "on the radio" as it covers the oft forgotten practice of broadcasting your love making over the radio so you dad can hear.  As much as its hard to take your eyes off the feast that is Ollie Herman's Androgynous good looks and rippling muscles, its hard not to notice that his guitarist Pepe Salohalme bears an uncanny similarity to a one Noel Fielding of Might Boosh fame.

As the concert drew to a close the band announced they'd played their last song and the crowd booed and got on Ollie asked "have you never been to a Rock n Roll show before?"and then he explained that they just do that so the crowd screams for an encore while they sit back stage "but the backstage in here is in front of the stage"  so instead he changed his T-shirt before the band started with their encore.  Its fair to say that he performed that infamous kick a few times(about 20) though out the night he also had for most songs  some sort of "Power Arm" movements and a a Van Damme style round kick.  If all this sounds confusing see the video below and you'll know what I mean.

The Last time Reckless Love visited Belfast they played Auntie Annies, this time they packed out the Limelight, as they finished their set   it made me wonder where they'll be playing next time they're in Belfast.  Where ever it is, I'll definitely be there to see them do it "One more time".