The Courteeners review in Bristol at O2 Academy
Posted on: 2014-11-14
Our rating:
Other than the acoustic section of the song, there were little issues with The Courteeners and they put on a very good show that wouldn?t be out of place on a bigger stage. Expect them to be a must-see act during next year?s festival season.
On the back of a number 3 charting album, Concrete Love, The Courteeners had arrived to play a Bristol date on their UK tour. Feeling as if I had arrived back in Manchester due to the various accents going around and questionable haircuts, the 15-year-old version of myself was getting excited at the prospect of seeing Liam Fray and co, again.
The support act were in the form of Blossoms, a band from Stockport, and they managed to get parts of the crowd going with their Peace-esque sound. They managed to rattle through several of their songs with little fuss, slightly representing the lack of enthusiasm shown by the lead guitarist but he still did his job. Perhaps after another listen, they could earn a place on my iPod. Once they were done it was only a short wait for the band everyone came to see were on stage.
Opening with ‘White Horses’, the first song on their new album, it was clear their job was to get everyone dancing around, no matter who you were. Their next song ‘How Good It Was’ was one of the highlights of the night and gave an impression that the song had been written to play at festivals and in arenas such was the crowd’s reaction. Clearly they had come to move all night. Other than a flare or stink bomb going off, the main part of their set was flying. All of their well known classics were out, including some of their older songs ‘Cavorting’ and ‘Take Over the World’ and slightly newer songs ‘Lose Control’ and ‘Are You in Love with a Notion?’ all impeccably sung word for word back by those in attendance. Newer songs didn’t have the same effect on the crowd with only the seemingly hardcore fans truly singing back.
Following the main part of the set, the atmosphere was calmed down by the introduction of an acoustic guitar by Liam Fray. This was the only disappointing part of the set, with 4 songs being slightly excessive and seemingly was only that long to show off Liam Fray’s voice, maybe this is rather pedantic. However the acoustic set including less-well known song ‘Smiths Disco’ and accompanying this was the only significant interaction with the crowd by Mr. Fray, with this lack of interaction rather irritating.
The electric guitars came back and the crowd was rested from listening to Liam on his acoustic guitar. This could only lead to mayhem when their main hits came on during the 4-song encore. ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ caused the biggest sing-along of the night, with a mass of people losing themselves to the power Liam Fray possessed. Finishing with ‘What Took You So Long’ the crowd didn’t seem to want to leave but it was over and The Courteeners had shown Bristol a very good time.
Other than the acoustic section of the song, there were little issues with The Courteeners and they put on a very good show that wouldn’t be out of place on a bigger stage. Expect them to be a must-see act during next year’s festival season.
4/5
Reviewed by Seb Reilly for 365Bristol
Article by:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
