Music
Travis @ Birmingham Carling Academy, May 25
Published Monday, May 28 2007, 14:47 BST | By Miriam Zendle
Although it might seem like absolutely ages, it's only been a few years since Travis took some well needed time out in order, as lead singer Fran Healy says, to "write and make babies". Lovely. With the release of their latest album The Boy With No Name just behind them, it seemed like the right thing to do to embark on a new tour, designed to draw the fans back in and perhaps make some new ones besides.
The Carling Academy in Birmingham is one of the best places I've found to watch a gig. Whether you choose to stand on the balcony, with its great vantage point on the stage, or down in the main room, amongst the riff-raff and the hoi polloi, as it were, you'll get a great view. In fact, it would have been a bit more exciting to be down by the stage this time round, for when the music began and the lights dimmed, Travis came striding through the audience, giving some of the fans the shock of their lives and making others wish momentarily that they hadn't opted for the rather more comfortable leaning space.
Travis have always been a pretty mellow group, not ever ones for stage tantrums and suchlike, and tonight's tour show was pretty reflective of this. Finely polished, the most exciting moment of the night was when guitarist Andy Dunlop climbed aloft the rather wobbly tower of amplifiers and played his guitar from there, although the addition of a roadie clinging on for dear life to the boxes in order to escape a lawsuit did lessen the rock 'n' roll frisson somewhat.
With the band playing tracks from their new album but sticking resolutely to much performance of old favourites, including the fantastic and totally underrated 'U16 Girls' from debut album Good Feeling, the crowd really got going, singing along to practically every track with a look of pure bliss on their face. From 'Pipe Dreams' to 'Battleships', this was a gig that was, as Mary Poppins might say, practically perfect in every way. More soon, please.
The Carling Academy in Birmingham is one of the best places I've found to watch a gig. Whether you choose to stand on the balcony, with its great vantage point on the stage, or down in the main room, amongst the riff-raff and the hoi polloi, as it were, you'll get a great view. In fact, it would have been a bit more exciting to be down by the stage this time round, for when the music began and the lights dimmed, Travis came striding through the audience, giving some of the fans the shock of their lives and making others wish momentarily that they hadn't opted for the rather more comfortable leaning space.
Travis have always been a pretty mellow group, not ever ones for stage tantrums and suchlike, and tonight's tour show was pretty reflective of this. Finely polished, the most exciting moment of the night was when guitarist Andy Dunlop climbed aloft the rather wobbly tower of amplifiers and played his guitar from there, although the addition of a roadie clinging on for dear life to the boxes in order to escape a lawsuit did lessen the rock 'n' roll frisson somewhat.
With the band playing tracks from their new album but sticking resolutely to much performance of old favourites, including the fantastic and totally underrated 'U16 Girls' from debut album Good Feeling, the crowd really got going, singing along to practically every track with a look of pure bliss on their face. From 'Pipe Dreams' to 'Battleships', this was a gig that was, as Mary Poppins might say, practically perfect in every way. More soon, please.
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