Fact One: The Jackson 5 don’t blame it on sunshine, moonlight or bad times. They blame it on the boogie.
Fact two: The Carling Academy are bastards for charging nearly six quid for two shots of vodka.
Fact three: Elbow are the most underrated band in the UK.
With four albums under their belt, Elbow took their latest offering, The Seldom Seen Kid, on the road to showcase a few of the brilliant tracks that are featured on it, alongside mixing in a few older hits.
While talking to a friend who worked at the bar, she uttered the words “I’ve been told there like one of those miserable Radiohead-style bands, so I knew you’d be here tonight.”
Hmm, great that our music tastes have been pinned down, but slightly wrong about Elbow being the soundtrack to a suicidal cult's last few hours on earth.
After arriving to the venue, it did seem a bit quieter then expected. Maybe the locals were off celebrating the afternoon football result, or more than likely, they were going out on the lash.
It was a Saturday night after all. And this gig, in particular, was moved forward to a very early 6.30pm start. As soon as we’d got our first overpriced drink of the night, we wandered towards the front of the stage in anticipation for the support act to come on.
Two Gallants are one of those bands we’d cover on our badly-maintained Myspace Trawl feature. They’ve been around for a few years, made three albums, toured like fuck and released EPs and singles on top of their albums.
As this San Francisco two-piece gingerly walked on to stage, it was almost like one of The Muppets had come to life. Honestly, the drummer was a spitting image of Animal. And just like his puppet counterpart, he was smashing the hell out of his cymbals and drums. Their melodic mix of bluesy folk music was the right sound to warm up the crowd for the main attraction of the evening.
As the band left the stage, it was only sodden 7.45pm. The venue, obviously keen to get everyone out so they could lure in all the indie kids for the repetitive club night, quickly got the roadies to set up shop for Elbow. It all looked like the standard band affair: racks of guitars, drums pushed to the back and all sort of rickety-looking keyboards lining the stage.
But, interestingly, three chairs at the back had also been set up. And when Elbow graced the stage at roughly 8.15pm, it all became apparent.
The set’s opener and first song of the new album, Starlings, featured heavily on a string and brass section. While the band provided the brass part, three ladies who stayed put for the majority of the night, added a layer of music to the night.
While it could be easily added in off a backing track, it made the night feel a lot more realistic. Adding to the fact that all three were frantically looking at sheet music all night, they didn’t seem to have much preparation time for the gig.
Throughout the night, front man Guy Garvey was in high sprits. He frequently asked the crowd how they were doing and told tales of how all the band lost on the Grand National that day. Well that is, apart from the drummer.
Tonight’s set was a mixture of new material and classics that oddly haven’t quite captured the attention of a mainstream audience. New single Grounds For Divorce is such a song. With its catchy guitar riffs and snarling lyrics, its limited success mirrors other hits such as the brilliant Powder Blue, Grace Under Pressure and Mexican Standoff. Tracks that we're all played tonight.
However, the highlight of tonight’s show was the welcome of Richard Hawley on stage. Another apparent miserable bastard from Sheffield, his appearance on stage was a definite surprise. Introduced as a song about horse racing and the apparent fixing that goes on, amazingly called The Fix, he announced that Hawley couldn’t make it, of course before admitting he was lying. He played that song before darting of stage, but later returning for the classic Elbow track, Grace Under Pressure.
Tonight’s show was anything but miserable, with singing, laughter and crap dancing. It was a much better night on the town for a Saturday then watching a gaggle of women falling over pissed in the street.