FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE TOOK OUR BREATH AWAY AT XFINITY CENTER

The sky might have been calling for a storm all day, but one woman brought the real storm to the Xfinity Center stage on Thursday night. Florence Welch, along with every amazing musician in her band The Machine, played a no-nonsense hour and a half set that covered their entire career. Florence of course, is known for having an insane amount of energy on stage, but Thursday night it seemed to be taken to a whole new level. It felt like you could count on one hand the number of times she stopped moving around the stage during the set.

The night kicked off with a set from Blood Orange, who enthralled those who came early with his brand of neo-soul mixed with R&B and indie-rock. Dev Hynes went from vocals to guitar to piano and back again with such ease. Dev is one of the move eclectic writers and producers today, and the set showed off all of his sides. His six piece band perfectly went one from piece to the next with such confidence, it was stunning. Having never seen him before I wished the vocals had been turned up a little more the whole set, but the band sounded great.

Blood Orange

From the minute the lights went out, the fans in attendance never stopped screaming for and singing with Florence And the Machine. Once you felt like you caught your breath, the band was right there to take it away again. The set started slow with “Between Two Lungs,” but then it was off to the races with “Hunger” and “Only If for a Night.” After “June,” Florence gave a shout out to the ACLU and all of the work they are trying to do in the USA right now for the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community. From there it was “Patricia” into “Dog Days Are Over” and then a brief pause where the audience was asked to put their phones down for a moment, look at their neighbors, tell them you love them, and then enjoy being in the moment. Florence is such a presence, it felt like the entire audience listened and no phones could be seen during “Ship to Wreck.”

Florence And The Machine

Florence

It’s great to see the band playing “Jenny of Oldstones” live after the premiere it was given during Games of Thrones’s final season and we were given a chuckle when Florence dedicated the song to Arya Stark. For the end of the set the back to back of “Delilah” and “What Kind of Man” not only had the crowd in fits, but brought Florence through part of the crowd and the photo pit. The energy she has is so contagious that the crowd gives it right back and it only builds and builds until it infects the whole room.

Florence And The Machine

Florence

Coming back to the stage, she thanked the crowd for coming out on a chillier May night than expected and tore through “No Choir,” “Big God,” and “Shake it Out.” The crowd wanted even more, but it wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully it won’t be long before she is back in the Boston area because this show could be seen every night and you would be hard pressed to find anyone in the audience be bored from it.