Manchester Academy 2, 12 September 2007

I hate to admit how long Air Traffic’s FRACTURED LIFE album has sat on my shelf waiting to be reviewed, after the briefest of spins a few months ago. Perhaps then it was the feeling of guilt that forced to accept an invitation to see the band perform in Manchester. I’m glad I did. And yes, as soon as I got home I had a good listen to an album that has met with almost universal critical acclaim over here in the UK.

While Manchester University’s premier Academy venue is being updated, the Academy 2 is the Uni’s main venue, with its capacity of around 800 and very acceptable acoustic quality. As the crowd grew larger for Air Traffic’s appearance I couldn’t help notice the dominance of teen fans, and slightly older Uni students. As the band members finally wandered onto the stage in front of the massive Air Traffic banner backdrop, the applause was deafening and I thought, ‘can the band really be this good?’ Lead vocalist and song writer Chris Wall, David Jordan (drums), Tom Pritchard (guitar) and Jim Maddock (bass) looked slightly nervous and especially during the opening rocky songs ‘Get In Line’ and ‘I Like That’ (with Wall on vocals and guitar). Neither song really stoked my interest although I could see that this was a very tight band. However, things changed dramatically when Wall moved over to the piano.

Suddenly the pace dropped and Wall looked much more at home as he led the band into one of the night’s wonderful highlights, ‘Time Goes By.’ I can best describe the band’s sound as brilliant mix of Coldplay and Muse, and this song was a prime example. There were quiet verses and rampant choruses in a song that was as epic as they come. Brilliant! Another piano based song followed which the set-list described as ‘New Piano’ which I guessed was a new song since it doesn’t appear on the album. Then the opening track of the album, ‘Just Abuse Me’, a rollicking, bittersweet rock song with a mountain of a melody and live sounded even better than the album… Wall really walloped the keyboard and sang with a voice that travelled the scales with absolute ease.

A massive guitar riff welcomed in the potential chart-busting and distinctive ‘Charlotte’ followed immediately by another in ‘Transpose Song.’ By this time I had moved to the back of the auditorium where the sound levels were more listener-friendly in time to catch the very Coldplay-esque ‘I Can’t Understand.’ Wall even sounded like Chris Martin although I found Wall’s voice possessed more depth and expression, while the song was far more interesting than anything on Coldplay’s last album.

The band belted out highlight after highlight including the tribal sounding ‘No More Running Away’ with its powerful drum rhythm, and radio-friendly pop of ‘Never Told Me Her Name’ with its honky-tonk piano ambience. But the best moment was left for the encore. ‘Empty Space’ is a deeply moving ballad written by Wall following the death of his girlfriend’s close friend in Canada. Alone on piano, Wall gave the most sincere and heartrending performance before the epic anthem, ‘Shooting Star,’ finally closed the show.

There are so many new UK bands out there at the moment but on the strength of what I witnessed the quality of Air Traffic transcends most of them. Here is a band with tremendous musical skills and the capacity to write meaningful, accessible songs that make for compelling, involving listening. In Wall the band has a powerful and accomplished lead man, and I’m left wondering just how far this band and its leader will go… A great new band and a memorable concert.

Set-List

Get In Line

I Like That

Time Goes By

New Piano

Just Abuse Me

End To All Our Problems

Charlotte

Transpose Song

I Can’t Understand

New Guitar Song

No More Running Away

Never Even Told Me Her Name

Empty Space

Shooting Star