Northern six-piece ALFIE opened up proceedings, taking the audience back to the mid 90s with their take on indie-come Magical Mystery Tour rock. The thing is, if your going to borrow from the Beatles, this is not the period that springs to mind. Singer Lee Gorton (picture the lesser talented brother of Tim Burgess, Mark Morris (Bluetones) and the guy from the Cooper Temple Clause), made several attempts to interact with the crowd. However, it was there homemade light show consisting of various coloured lamps that caught the eye, rather than the music.
ATHLETE started off their set with singles ‘Beautiful’ and ‘El Salvador’, instant crowd pleasers from the Mercury Prize nominated debut, Vehicles and Animals. By the fourth number, the crowd are treated to a new song, slightly heavier than usual, but hardly Keats in terms of lyrics (“Na-Na-Na- Na-Na-Na).
Athlete fans were clearly in force in a smoky Concorde. “How’s your singing?” asked front man Joel Pott; and he was not let down, as album tracks were recited back word for word. On ‘You got the style’, one of the evening’s highlights, Pott teases the audience by pausing for a quick drink before breaking into “Oh! It’s getting hot in here, must be something in the atmosphere”, lyrics part Nelly, part Michael Fish. Athlete, for their credit, were musically tight, with superb backing vocals and diverse drumming. On occasions the keyboardist could be criticised for over indulgence. I was taken back to my memories of Christmas 1989, and an eight year olds' experimentation with a new Casio Synth.
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Athlete wrap the evening up with ‘Shake those Windows’, a beautiful tearjerker prompting lighters aloft, yet at the same time sounding strangely reminiscent of ‘Annihilate Now’ by Idlewild. But in a good way. Of course there’s an encore- and Athlete play one old song, one new and end with ‘Westside’, their biggest hit to date. As gigs go, Athlete put on a good show and clearly have some worthy tunes under their belt. Then again, so did Shed Seven…
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