Florence and the Machine - A Band that Truly is A Kiss with a Fist

Florence and the Machine are incredible.  There’s really nothing else to say but since this is a blog post I guess I’ll elaborate.  With deep lyrics, powerful percussion beats and some killer harp playing, Florence and the Machine are the complete indie rock package.  Exploding in popularity since the release of their first album Lungs in 2008, Flo has continuously showed an incredible ability to not only write powerful songs but put on an amazing show.  I’ve seen her three times now at three different venues and all were amazing.  With starlight backdrops and wonderful lighting effects, her shows are downright ethereal and at times feel more like a dream than a concert.  Songs like “Dog Days are Over” blew up in the public eye after extensive play on both the radio and as the song in the theatrical trailer for the Julia Roberts movie “Eat Pray Love”.  However, I have a fondness for her first single “Kiss with a Fist”.  The title of the song is a great way to describe Florence and the Machine; a band that can be light and fantastical with songs like “Girl with One Eye” and “My Boy Builds Coffins” but also upbeat and energetic with tracks like “Rabbit Heart”, “You’ve Got the Love”, and “Shake it Out” (from her second release Ceremonials).  Performing live, Florence is as good a front woman as any other, running all around the stage and shaking her long red hair as she bangs her head to tracks like “Drumming Song” with a ferocity that makes concert goes say WOW this girl means what she says.  If you only know one or two songs, get the CD because I promise you, every track is phenomenal, and if you love her but haven’t seen her, get tickets! Because they sound just as good live as they do in your CD player and that is something not many bands can boast.  Ever since seeing them Halloween night at the House of Blues in Boston, all dressed up as skeletons and coming on stage amidst glowing blue light and smoke as the Machine ripped into “Cosmic Love” I knew that Flo was someone I was sticking with for life.