Despite having lived here for almost 3 years now,
tonight was the first time I had been to the Bath
Pavilion. Unassuming in nature and tucked away
in a little corner next to the cricket ground
and leisure centre, I was massively unsure as
to its potential as a good live music venue. Upon
arriving, I became even less convinced as the
inside of the building seemed to resemble, in
the words of Athlete's singer Joel, 'a wedding
marquee'. However, throughout the night it did
become more apparent that in fact the acoustics
did not suffer in the slightest and the all round
atmosphere was indeed very good.
It must also be said that the crowd was larger
than I expected it to be. Gigs in Bath are never
usually well advertised, further added to by the
fact that despite other dates from the tour being
there, tonight's event was not on the gig listings
within the pages of NME magazine. There was also
a good mixture of people, ranging from the usual
menagerie of indie kids in their skinny jeans
to the middle aged women who are still trying
to convince themselves that they are young at
heart and cool to the core. Having stood next
to one such lady for the entirety of the gig,
I can say that at best, she made herself look
fairly ridiculous!
But tonight was about the music, and Athlete
are a weird sort of band. They achieved massive
commercial success off the back of the single
'Wires', which also propelled the band's album
'Tourist' to the top of the charts. After that,
they have become a band that kind of plod around
in the background, good at what they do but very
unassuming about the way they go about it. This
was evidenced by the gig itself, and also the
prior interview with Carey Willetts from the band.
He said that people find they know more of the
songs in the set than they realise, and this was
very true. The gig was a singalong near enough
from start to finish, and the general mood of
the fans was one of great relaxation and fun.
Yet, Athlete also managed to present a bit of
edge to their music, something that sets them
out from any other band of a similar musical persuasion.
Their style is very unique and also very loveable,
as seems to echo the general attitude of the band
who come across as very likeable guys.
Highlights, of course, included 'Wires', which
was the only song where the whole crowd could
quite clearly be seen singing along at the top
of their lungs. But a lot of the stuff from 'Beyond
The Neighbourhood' was very much to my liking.
To be honest, I had only heard the single 'Hurricane'
before the night's festivities, and even then
it was only whilst they were playing it that I
realised that I actually had. But songs such as
'Tokyo' and a slightly mixed up version of 'Best
Not To Think About It' showcased the evident vocal
talents of Mr Joel Pott. But as noticed by Thom
at the previous Athlete gig covered by Alternative
Vision, the set was very much lacking the song
'El Salavdor'. Clearly this must be a song that
the band must not like playing live, which is
maybe slightly weird as it was one of their earliest
singles and better known songs. In fact, there
were several calls from the crowd to play the
song, which eventually proved to be fruitless.
But who are we to argue with the band, and it
was omitted with what they must see as good reason.
In terms of individual roles on the night, the
lyrics of Joel Pott were very clear and resonated
in a warm fashion, which could not help but get
the crowd involved. Willetts on backing vocals
and bass guitar was technically very sound and
the focus of much attention from the crowd because
of this. Drummer Steve Roberts was again very
sound, but created the only hiccup of the night
with the malfunction of his kit!
However, by the end of the set one thing was
noticeable,and that was that in my opinion, the
support band Boy Kill Boy actually provided a
better show than the main attraction. This is
not to say that Athlete were anything less than
fantastic on the night, but Boy Kill Boy provided
a more electrifying atmosphere which was more
to my taste. The song 'Back Again', which was
used to open the set was perfect evidence of this,
a bouncy number which is infectious on the ear
and easy to sing along to. For me, an example
of a perfect indie song and one that is contained
within the top 25 most played on my iTunes.
Overall, a fantastic night's entertainment.
Review By Anthony
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