Wolverhampton 31/10/10 - reviews and discussion

[zee]

Let's review and discuss the gig here!


_{The thread will be unlocked after the show. x}

[zvezda]

I'm gutted I had to miss this gig, but I was sooo shattered I was in bed by 9.30pm! I hear it went well though, and that Bring Me Down in particular was awesome. Come on - those who were there - write, write, write - please!!!

[stellar]

Give me a chance hun! Haven't written up London yet. Have a video of Gotta give it up to upload from Wolverhampton too. Am currently uploading video from London.

Jen x

[zee]

^ ah, so looking forward to seeing the vid and ripping the audio! *so in love with the cover*

[stellar]

Got to give it up from Wolverhampton

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuxZNjUG2KI

I will write reviews now.

Jen x

[stellar]

This has been a long time coming, I know; reviews are never going to be my strong point

There were three support bands, the first two not really to my taste (sorry) but I enjoyed the Inner City Pirates again. Energy, enthusiasm, stage prescence and a sense of fun combined with some very catchy tunes – I’ll definitely be buying the album. A few lines of Feel Good Hit of the Summer were snuck into one track, and apparently their last song was a Weezer cover, which I didn’t recognise. My musical knowledge being far from encyclopaedic.

And so to LAR; the crowd was small, maybe fifty or so, probably not too bad for a Sunday night in Wolverhampton. I spotted a guy wearing a LAR hoody (apart from the usual H+H crew, of course) with a couple of friends who had clearly come just to see LAR, evidence of the beginnings of a following. A lesser man might have baulked at performing for a half filled venue, but Steve took it in his stride, wryly commenting after one song that we should all go back to someone’s hotel room – and get drunk, he hastily added, before there could be any misunderstanding.

The show got off to a rocky start with Donneye’s amp experiencing some kind of malfunction. I’m no techie but even I can tell that summat’s amiss when the tour manager spends the entire gig crouched behind an amp, presumably holding wires together. As a result the band took a while to get into their stride, but by the time they played Running they were fully in the swing of things.

Highlights for me were:

Come on say it – I’ve seen this track described as indulgent in another review, but I beg to differ. LAR’s set is an eclectic mix of all out rocking and slower numbers, yet none of the latter fail to keep my attention. Steve introduces Come on say it as ‘a smoking song,’ wanders casually off stage, leaving the band to play a leisurely into, returning to sing with a beautifully understated passion.

Got to give it up – introduced as a song they have been having a lot of fun with during the tour and dedicated to ‘an ex friend of mine’ – no prizes for guessing who that might be. Donneye and Teresa work together fantastically playing this track. Teresa rocks, she is beyond awesome, and her obvious enthusiasm for the music is totally infectious.

Home – I love this track. To me it's reminiscent of ‘Only’ and ‘Capital G’ by NIN in the way it stands out as an infectiously danceable tune on a rock album. You’d have to have feet of clay not to want to dance to this – and Sam, Pete and I certainly did.

Afterwards, there was time to say goodbye to Pete, Donneye and Mark (I was gutted it was the last date of the tour for me – would have happily done the whole tour if work and finances would have allowed) before setting off for a long drive home.

Jen x

[zvezda]

That's a great review Jen *exalts you*. I agree with you about Donneye and Teresa making a great team - but on Got to Give it Up Hove really *plays* that guitar!