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Review |
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 As I arrive, I’m disappointed to find that
the night’s gig is to be held in the Academy
2, the much smaller sister venue of the main Academy,
where the gig had been billed to take place. However,
the venue soon proves to be the selling point of
the night as it provides an intimate and friendly
setting in which to enjoy all three acts.
Polar Bear Club are up first, from Rotherham
(the one in America). While they are a little
‘screamo’ for my liking, they perform
plenty of powerful songs, and clearly love being
here. The lead vocalist, Jimmy, should be commended
in particular for his relentless bouncing across
the stage. They’re such an energetic band,
in fact, that it’s a wonder the small stage
is able to contain them, and that there aren’t
any accidents!
 There’s a short break; just long enough
to get a drink from the bar, before the line up
continues. Amidst a few claps, Frank Turner takes
to the stage in an unpretentious manner, and begins
to tune his own guitar. His act is far removed
from the hardcore style of his old band, Million
Dead, but his new acoustic folk approach is no
less appealing. I’m expecting a small backing
band to accompany him, but his entire set is a
one-man-show. Usually, this would be very hard
to pull off, and I expect to become quickly bored
of one man and his guitar. But Frank pulls the
evening off in spectacular style. He carries us
through myriad emotions through the raw energy
of his songs, my favourites being ‘Worse
Things Happen At Sea’ and ‘Long Live
The Queen’. The latter is an extremely moving
story of one of his friends who died a few years
ago of cancer, and you can see that it still hurts
very much for him to sing about her. However,
the song is uplifting and up-tempo, and delivers
a powerful message to live life to the full. At
the risk of sound older than my years, it is so
refreshing to listen to music where I can hear
the lyrics clearly – there are far too many
bands around who scream incomprehensibly. Frank’s
music is pure and true, and delivered with a friendly
tone, with plenty of light-hearted banter between
songs. He plays a long set, which still isn’t
long enough: when he announces his last song,
someone in the audience shouts: ‘Stay all
night!’.
 After a long break, Gaslight Anthem enter the
stage. This is my first encounter with the four
piece from New Jersey, and I’m not disappointed.
I usually find that, the less I know a band when
I see them live, the less I can appreciate them,
but Gaslight Anthem are one of the few exceptions
to this rule. Their songs are catchy (without
being predictable) and the tunes are incredibly
well written and performed. Aside from anything
else, the band members’ natural charisma
and obvious enjoyment of playing together is infectious,
and you can’t help but smile along with
them. Even though they are a relatively young
band, they’re already very prolific –
they released 2 full length albums in a little
over a year – and if tonight is anything
to judge by, their future will be full of success,
too.
This is the first night of a 24 date tour that
the three bands will be spending together, and
they look set to give the crowd a good show, as
well as having plenty of fun together (they all
talk fondly about the other acts and come to watch
their sets from the side of the stage). They offer
a range of different styles, but suit each other
well, and the small scale of the venues along
the tour lend themselves well to a friendly, cosy
atmosphere.
Polar Bear Club – 3/5
Frank Turner – 5/5
Gaslight Anthem – 5/5
Review By Helen Williams |
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| Gaslight
Anthem |
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| Frank
Turner |
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| Polar
Bear Club |
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| Band
Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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