Fast-rising American band arrive in Nottingham for penultimate night of their European tour
Arriving a little late to this gig, me, Neil and Dave enter the venue towards the end of Polar Bear Club’s set. After heading straight to the bar for a beer, not much attention was made to tonight’s opening band. Until they launch into a cover of the Get Up Kids, that is. A young band on the brink of earning themselves enough fans for a headline tour of their own, Polar Bear Club are nothing original but play with enough conviction to warrant further interest. A couple of songs later they leave the stage, and yet again I wish I had arrived in time for a promising support band. 6/10
Twenty or so minutes later, Frank Turner is on stage without his live band beginning a surprisingly lengthy set featuring songs old and new, with a Lemonheads cover thrown in for good measure. Full of praise for his touring buddies the Gaslight Anthem and Polar Bear Club, Frank found himself drinking whiskey straight from the bottle at the request of his newly found friends. This is the penultimate night of a lengthy European tour after all.
Always appreciative, Frank is bowled over by the voices singing his songs right back at him. From upbeat tracks such as I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous, and lyrically genius track Father’s Day to the tear-jerking tribute to his friend Lex on Long Live the Queen, Frank really grabs the crowd and they really give it back at the top of their lungs. Ever the story teller, Frank informs the crowd of his first gig at Rock City, where a Pitchshifter fan once heckled “Fuck-off and don’t come back!” – tonight there is no such feeling, as I’m almost certain the majority of the crowd would venture back to this very venue to see Mr Turner play a headline show of his own. A great time to announce such a show then – Sunday October 18th, Frank’s biggest Nottingham show yet. Frank’s preview of new material that is set to appear on third album proper is a great listen; two instantly identifiable, upbeat tracks approaching subjects such as friendship and actively following your dreams. Frank is truly an inspirational watch tonight (despite the limited view of the stage). 9/10
After Frank’s set, Dave decides to leave, so Neil and I head to the bar for a top-up. Upon stumbling across Phil, we all head to try and get a decent view of tonight’s headliners the Gaslight Anthem. Thinking back to six-months ago, the Gaslight Anthem made their first ever UK appearance at Leeds and Reading festivals, follwed by a short debut tour of the British Isles. I was lucky enough to catch the band playing a show in the basement of tonight’s venue. Just over half full, it was a rip-roaring show for long-time fans and new fans who were there off the back of a extremely complimentary article that appeared in Kerrang the week before. It was amazing to think that here the band were, about to play a near sell out show in Rock City’s main hall to an extremely receptive crowd.
Taking to the stage, the Gaslight Anthem appear as a thankful band, who genuinely appreciate the support from the fans that have showed up this evening. A band with old-fashioned ideals, and a sound that reflects this fact, the Gaslight Anthem play a set of crowd-pleasing tracks. Like true all-American men, they play tracks including breakthrough track The 59 Sound, Senor and the Queen’s Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts and ska-infused Boomboxes and Dictionaries with admirable conviction. Like the two bands before them, they also play a cover; Ben e King’s Stand By Me. The crowd lap it up, with chants of ‘Darling, Darling!’ and Brian Fallon spreads his millionth grin of the evening.
Full of praise for the bands they have shared the stage with the past five or six or so weeks, the Gaslight Anthem seemed happy to have shared many stages with the Polar Bear Club and Frank Tuner. It was very nice to see from my position in the crowd that the support bands had taken to the side of the stage to drink whiskey from the bottle and dance to their newly acquired friend’s set. Towards the end of Gaslight Anthem’s performance, I noticed that the dancing support bands clothing was starting to disappear. And lo-and-behold, during Gaslight’s final song, several men took to the stage in Y-fronts and began gay-dancing in a fashion that would make Mark Hoppus extremely jealous. What a show! What cheesy grins that spread across every crowd members face! 8/10
---
After the show, I fled to the merch stand where I had earlier spotted limited edition tour posters, Being the second to last date of the tour, I knew they’d be in short supply. Printed onto thick black paper, the limited to one hundred posters looked awesome on the stand. Luckily, I managed to get my hands on one (despite the German sounding merch guy claiming I’d be lucky to get one after the show). Mine was hand numbered 13 of 100, and I managed to get Frank Turner to sign it close to his name on the bill, making it all the more valuable to me. It shall certainly be appearing in a frame in my flat very soon!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment