Review: Florence and the Machine

On Sept. 21, when the bright light under the stage at the Ameris Bank Amphitheater came on to reveal Florence Welch standing barefoot in a long sheer gown, she began to sing “Heaven is Here” as the crowd stood up and started dancing. 

Welch’s performances are breathtaking and free-flowing while she jumps around the stage and runs around the theater interacting with fans. The band plays a big role as well as the vocals, the band has nine background instruments; harp, guitar, percussion, violin, bass, keyboard, backing vocals, piano and synthesizers. 

During her well-known song “Dog Days are Over” Welch gave a speech in the middle of the song while the band behind her kept playing. She expressed how she felt while on tour and her experience with touring throughout the pandemic. She then asked the audience to politely put away all phones and to live in the moment, as they did, she continued on with the song. This song seemed to be the one most fans knew since it became recently popular because of a trend on the social media platform TikTok. 

Welch’s fan base is in ways interesting, fans seem to praise her.  At one moment when she jumped off the stage and stood on the metal barrier between the stage and the audience, fans bleeding fake blood from their eyes mixed in with others wearing flowers crowns, some bare feet, and others presenting gifts to Welch including such as flowers, stuffed bears and pride flags. The crowd went hysterical as she touched their faces while singing. 

For the encore, Welch announced she would perform “Never Let Me Go,” a song that has not been performed for over 10 years.  Adoring fans cried and shined cellphone flashlights, waving them in the air to the beat.