Carling Academy, Liverpool. 10 July 2007

Heavily laden with camera bag, I passed by Carling Academy door staff and heard one of them mutter, “Drew the short straw then…” Oh shit! I thought, I’ve come all this way to see a dud band perform, probably supported by more dud bands. Then I thought, hell no! This is New York’s Bravery so revered across the pond. Now I know that the USA has a disastrous record for diplomacy and for embarking on illegal wars, but those Yank reviewers know a bit about music…

First up was a UK band called Cat The Dog, and the name alone had me worried, but hey, I remained open-minded. The guys certainly looked the part as they wandered onto the rather cramped stage (as the first of three acts on the bill, there was one helluva lot of equipment around), with the lead man definitely looking the part. There seems to be a trend at the moment for keyboards and synths to be used by many bands, and this one was no exception. What can I say? It was a valiant, tight little funk rock set but devoid of anything I could really hang my hat on. Still, I was able to test out my gear so the band had performed a useful purpose, while not making me wish that I was someplace else.

I had no idea that The Cinematics would be performing but here they were in second support slot. I had listened to the debut album a few months ago but was unimpressed. No matter because for me the real test of an act is how well it performs live. The Cinematics is a four piece band from Scotland and has toured extensively and internationally, to a decent level of acclaim. Scott Rinning looked anything but a guitar-toting front man, with his immaculate brown outfit complete with neck tie, and quaffed hair but boy did this little fella rock! In fact he had the capacity crowd by the balls with his first tuneful song. His delivery was note perfect, powerful, and passionate – just what the doctor ordered. I warmed to this band a lot during the short set and then wondered what the hell I did with the album (hoping that it’s not one that ended up on the M56 motorway – graveyard for a lot of really bad records). The band’s brand of rock is highly rhythmic and very danceable, and I was well impressed. Back to the drawing board Tone…

Set List

Sunday Sun

Keep Forgetting

Maybe Someday

Human

Strange Education

Break

Asleep At The Wheel

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It took twenty-minutes for the stage to be cleared and for a wide chasm to appear, fit for rock heroes. I lost count of the techies around checking this and that, and I don’t think I’ve seen as many keyboards on stage before. Imposing front man Sam Endicott bounded onto the stage and after a brief ‘hello’ launched into the band’s first hit, ‘Fearless’ to shrieks from the capacity crowd. The band sounded great but to me the vocal sounded off-key. Then it was the first track from the band’s latest album, ‘Believe’, with its strong, highly rhythmic bass line opening, radio-friendly melody, and contagious chorus. Again, band great, voice a bit dodgy but improving. By the third song, ‘PSA’, whatever throat obstruction impeded Endicott’s voice had disappeared and he was back to his distinctive vocal self. Another newbie ‘This Is Not The End’ was next and proved that the band is capable of deep introspection, which I felt fitted the band like a beautifully tailored suit. In fact for me it was the night’s high point…

Other standout songs were ‘Time Won’t Let Go’ and the bouncy, anthemic ‘Every Word Is A Knife In My Ear.’ As the show progressed and the crowd’s delight and jigging intensified, Endicott stepped up several gears with one of the most energetic performances I have seen this year. The set-list was excellent comprising of the best songs from both the band’s albums plus a couple of unknowns thrown in for good measure. What perhaps surprised me most was that the band showed a more progressive indie style than the retro new wave style I was expecting. The other star of the night was guitarist Michael Zakarin who stalked the stage like a caged Lion, while letting off some potent and explosive riffs. While the band is not one of my favourites I had to acknowledge that the crowd was bouncing, and the guys gave good account of themselves in what turned out to be a dynamic, enjoyable show. And no, I hadn’t drawn the short straw…

Set List