Florence and the Machine : Serpentine Stage live 2008 : 10th anniversary uncut footage

On 21 June 2008 (10 years ago to the day as I write) a fresh faced and excitable, but clearly immensely talented, 21 year old named Florence Welch took to the Serpentine Stage in London’s Kensington Gardens.

The show was part of Exhibition Road Music Day, a one day event in and around the museums of South Kensington, including Indian classical music in the V&A and culminating in a headline show by British Sea Power in the Natural History Museum.

Florence and the Machine were on stage late afternoon and the crowd was not large; a couple of hundred people would be a generous estimate. As of June 2008 Florence and the Machine had released just one single, ‘Kiss with a Fist’, on Moshi Moshi records. Debut album, ‘Lungs’ was still more than a year away from release.

I filmed two songs, "I'm Not Calling You a Liar" (later to appear on ‘Lungs’) and their cover of Mystery Jets’ ‘Flakes’.
I posted ‘Flakes’ on YouTube the next day. ‘Liar’ however had so many people wandering off during the performance and included an exceptionally wobbly bit where one of the wanderers managed to drape the strap of his bag over my head and pull me sideways! This footage was deemed unfit for human consumption and has languished unseen in my vaults ever since.

The footage, which has since acquired a certain charm (I wonder if that guy did actually get his tambourine back after the show) and historical interest, is presented here complete and unedited for the first time.

The guys from watchlistentell were also on hand that day and filmed an interview with Florence and an exclusive performance of ‘My Boy Builds Coffins’ in Kensington Gardens, just around the corner from the stage. The eagle-eyed viewer may notice that Flo is wearing the same dress:
   • WLT - Florence and The Machine - My Boy Bu...  

Florence and the Machine’s fourth studio album, ‘High as Hope’ will be released on 29 June 2018 and includes the recent single, ‘Hunger’.