Post by Darren on Aug 25, 2009 8:50:05 GMT
The Cellar Bar, Blackburn
28/09/07
Review by the Panel
28/09/07
Review by the Panel
“Something stirs the unusually excitable crowd on this cold Friday night in Blackburn.” By Fergal Kinney |
A free outdoor gig by proclaimed “legends in waiting” The Courteeners in the hometown of so many of these loyal music devotees is the kind of thing that doesn’t happen in Blackburn all too often. Enticed by popular local support acts The Moneyshot and The ECB, the crowd are ready for the Courteeners to take to the outdoor Courtyard stage at Blackburn’s Cellar Bar. At half ten, a familiar face to Cellar Bar regulars walks onto the stage to proclaim the words that not only the crowd were waiting for, but the Cellar Bar itself was waiting to announce, “Please welcome The Courteeners”. The Courteeners amble on stage, looking as though they certainly have taken advantage of the free bar. This, however, would be no limp performance. “Good evening Blackburn, excellent news” beams front man Liam Fray before launching into opener “Aftershow”. The infamous kick-in of Aftershow is greeted by an eruption of sweaty bodies dancing and beer being slung across the courtyard. Aftershow is typically energetic, as is second song in, “Kokaine Kim”. The band tear furiously through hits-to-be such as “Bide Your Time” and “No You Didn’t No You Don’t”. The crowd are as energetic as the band on stage, with Fray bounding excitedly across the stage, occasionally turning its guitar on its head to generate feedback. Occasionally, the sound is a bit sloppy and lacklustre, and Fray’s vocals are often out of breath and mis-timed, but this fails to matter with his angry sneering vocal style and the sheer blowout of energy, angst and style that the performance spews. “I’ve never been to Blackburn before, this is my first time but not my last” announces Fray mid-set, this comment received to rapturous applause from the almost entirely local crowd. The outdoor area was still very intimate and incredibly atmospheric being nighttime, however the intimacy turned to overcrowding and this reached a frightening climax during b-side “Slowdown”. A member of the audience jumped on stage then dived head first into the crowd, and a tussle broke out within the crowd and resulted in several people, some innocent, some guilty, being thrown out of the venue. A larey yet concerned Liam Fray noted this and after the song, stated that people should calm down as “there are a few little ‘uns here getting hurt and its not on”, resulting in yet another cheer from the crowd who swiftly followed his advice. Highlights of the set include an electrifying “Cavorting”, “If It Wasn’t For Me”, and the soon to be released at the time single “Acrylic”. Every word of every song is yelled back at the band and the band certainly appears humbled yet spurred on at the same time by this gesture. The evening is not one devoid of sentiment and this is proved by fourth song in, “Please Don’t”, a mid-tempo song about bad experiences of an ex-girlfriend set to a Johnny Marr style guitar lick and a Motown-esque bassline. |
By the time The Courteeners had left the stage after an exhilarating ten-minute rendition of “What Took You So Long” (popularly interspersed with James classic “Tomorrow), their work was long done and Blackburn was left drunkenly reeling from a night that its music scene would never forget. |