Blinding performance from Friendly Fires

A PITCH black performance has thrown an up-and-coming St Albans band into the limelight. Aided by night vision goggles, glam-rock band Friendly Fires – comprising singer and bassist Ed Macfarlane, guitarist Edd Gibson and drummer Jack Savidge – played a L

A PITCH black performance has thrown an up-and-coming St Albans band into the limelight.

Aided by night vision goggles, glam-rock band Friendly Fires - comprising singer and bassist Ed Macfarlane, guitarist Edd Gibson and drummer Jack Savidge - played a London gig in complete darkness to an audience of 200 people on June 15.

Sponsored by Sony Ericson, the purpose of the unique performance was to force an effectively blind audience to concentrate only on the music, the pitch black surroundings heightening their senses to the extreme.

Friendly Fires, who met aged 14 when they were all pupils at St Albans School, have been likened to British electropop band Hot Chip and, before embarking on a world tour last year to promote their self-titled album, the St Albans trio were regular players at The Horn pub in St Albans.

Friendly Fires, whose celebrity fans include Radio1 DJ Zane Lowe and Bono from U2, are also playing Glastonbury later this month and, on August 1, they will be headlining the Standon Calling festival in the grounds of a 16th Century manor in Standon, Herts.

For more information on Standon Calling, visit www.standon-calling.com and to find out more about Friendly Fires, either go to their home page at www.wearefriendlyfires.com or check out www.myspace.com/friendlyfires