Live Review: Bastille, Foxes, Alison Wonderland - Challenge Stadium

The early crowd filling up Challenge Stadium's floor space were thoroughly entertained by the warehouse stylings of DJ Alison Wonderland, who built up the momentum with tracks from Disclosure to Kendrick Lamar. As people continued to pour in, English pop star Foxes made it her mission to develop the fun and happy vibes. The crowd lapped up her performance and the strength of her vocals were impressive through tracks like Youth and her cover of Pharrell Williams' Happy, however, it was a bit of a shame she couldn't match the vocal range of her studio recording of Clarity, having to shy away from the microphone in her hand at times throughout the chorus. That aside, she is a confident performer who genuinely adores her audience and it was a thoroughly enjoyable showing.

The roaring cheer of the packed-out stadium indicated Bastille had taken to the stage, and kicked things off appropriately with title track Bad Blood. Initially, vocalist Dan Smith jumping around the stage in a hoodie was a little uncomfortable to watch, but second track The Weight Of Living Pt. II suited his stage style perfectly. From there, his actions on a song-by-song basis seemed to flow a lot easier. The Things We Lost In The Fire had those in the seated section jumping up and along to the catchy hit, while fans in the standing area were treated to a huge surprise when Smith jumped off the stage and started walking through the crowd as he was singing Flaws, prompting a rush of fans trying to get closer to shake his hand and sing into the microphone. The group left the stage briefly before returning to perform a three-song encore, finishing with the ever-appropriate Pompeii, which had the entire crowd in ecstasy as they chanted along to the memorable harmonies. The set seemed to fly by and that is truly a testament to a fantastic live performance.