Lorenzo Nada aka Godblesscomputers has spent the last two months playing around his native Italy, presenting his latest album Solchi. In between a stop in Modena and one in Pisa, he managed to fit in a gig in the British capital – the only one of the tour outside of Italy, and his first live show in London.

Backed by a bassist and a drummer, Godblesscomputers took to the stage at around 9:30 after a performance by The Slow Revolt, the solo project of Peckham’s Joe Mirza, who, despite being excellent, seemed to have little in common with the music of the main act, except for an underlying electronic sound. The clever pairing with a local musician increased the number of locals at the show — among, of course, the big batch of London-based Italians, as always happens when the performer is Italian —, which is something any musician from abroad would hope for.

The show was an enjoyable one, and it was worth it to go out on a Wednesday night. Birthdays is not the best venue to see live acts, as its low ceiling makes it impossible to see anything that is going on, on stage, if it is too busy and you are under 1,70m tall. Luckily, this time, though, it was busy enough not to disappoint the performers, but also not too packed to put off the attendees.

Godblesscomputers played a long set with almost no breaks, going from his latest release to older tracks off his previous albums. It was a cohesive set, much more cohesive than how the songs of ‘Solchi’ sound when listening to the album, as they are rooted in many different genres. Not to say the album is not an interesting one, but the live performance flows better. There were no jarring transitions as there might be between the tracks ‘Adriatica’ and ‘Life on Fire’ on the album. On the contrary, it made sense to play old tracks like ‘Closer’ and ‘Nothing to Me’ next to newer ones like ‘Just Slow Down’.

The presence of a band joining Lorenzo on stage allowed for a richer, less computer-y sound (although his name suggests he loves computers), yet their influence could have definitely been stronger. Given it is their first tour together, there is room for improvement.

Overall it was a nice night out, but there is still work to be done in order to attract a more international audience.