Live Review: Rudimental - Bournemouth International Centre, 24/10/2018

After a venue upgrade due to the phenomenal demand for tickets, Rudimental still managed to sell out Bournemouth’s International Centre, and as 2500 people of all ages piled in to watch the band perform, it becomes pretty clear why.

Opening the show was London based singer Olivia Dean, who features on a track on Rudimental’s forthcoming album. Olivia’s style is stripped back, mellow and pretty mesmerising. At first, I wondered if such a relaxing act made sense as an opener for a band like Rudimental, but as she played on it started to make sense. Rudimental have always been a little different, with lyrics about love and peace and unity, and Olivia Dean fit into their world so perfectly. 

Ray BLK was next up, and she brought the party. From the start she was oozing sass, and her infectious attitude got to everyone in the room. If you think Ray BLK is fun to listen to, try seeing her live. Combining her talent, energy and her sassy songwriting, she was the ideal way to get the crowd properly warmed up and ready for the main act.

With their new album being titled ‘Toast To Our Differences’, it should come as no surprise that Rudimental instil a feeling of togetherness when they play. As the room prepared for them to take the stage, I was warned by a security guard that the show was very “warm”. Of course he was simply talking about the lights, but I cannot think of a better way to describe the feeling of the entire evening.

On paper, Rudimental are a four piece band, but on stage there is so much more to them, including incredible backing vocalists and an unforgettable brass section. Kicking off with Right Here, they immediately showed us the best of them, with one of their vocalists stepping forward and taking the lead - something that we saw everyone do at some point throughout the night. The song is a melodic drum and bass beauty, but as soon as that guitar solo kicked in the whole crowd were captivated. And this was only the start. 

The career-spanning setlist featured tracks from both of Rudimental’s studio albums, as well as a lot of new tracks which went down just as well as the classics. Throwing in a little surprise for us, they also covered Rag’n’Bone man’s Human, after making sure everyone was ready for the ‘rave section’. This was a perfect way to get everyone excited again, just in time for an almighty ending to the night with Feel The Love. Will Heard was back to the front to see us through the track until it was time for the crowd to take over with their hands thrust into the air and their heart signs out in full force. If we weren’t all feeling the love before, we certainly were by the end of that.

With an encore of Waiting All Night and chart-topper These Days, Rudimental left the room practically glowing. They are a band that ooze not only talent but love, for music, each other and their fans. I have no doubt that Toast to Our Differences will be an incredible album, and I urge anyone not to miss an opportunity to see Rudimental live.

Words and Photography by Megan Smith.