With this evenings’ Wedgewood Rooms gig sold out way in advance, you could tell by the audience this was to be something of a nostalgic night. Although the set would pull heavily from their critically acclaimed new release, simple titled “Here”, it was the old favourites that most fans were holding out for.
The first single of yesteryear began the performance as Teenage Fanclub came on with “Start Again” and already we were transported back in time. It wasn’t long however until newer material was aired with “I Don’t Want to Control you” and “Thin Air” being 2 of 6 tracks taken from the new release. The newer songs may not have had an immediate impact live, but they definitely have a classic Teenage Fanclub feel about them, after all there’s a reason why “Here” is receiving great reviews.
When it came to crowd interaction Norman Blake filled the role of frontman, although the set list being split between Blake, Gerard Love and Raymond McGinley taking up vocal duties. The Love penned “Don’t Look Back” was the next song to be met with the biggest reception, the album “Grand Prix” also having several tunes played tonight.
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub are clearly a band still loving what they do, as well as being dedicated to making it sound as good as possible. This included Norman Blake changing guitar almost every song, although it didn’t distract from the momentum of the gig and he even impressed himself, as he hit every note when it came to swapping the 6-string for a handheld xylophone.
The real highlights however came in the form of tunes such as, “I need Direction” from 2000’s “Howdy” giving another taster that Teenage Fanclub were still playing the classics. Needless to say, it was then “Sparky’s Dream” and “The Concept” that made everyone feel young again, bringing the main set to a close and sounding as vibrant as they did back in the day.
The Scottish indie-rockers soon returned to the stage and following another more recent song it was back to where they started. Ending the performance on the first single taken from their debut release, the 1990’s classic “Everything Flows”. It’s difficult for anyone to promote a new album, while making the old tunes sound fresh and keeping everybody interested. However tonight Teenage Fanclub showed that they are more than just a throwback to the ‘90s, there may not have been many new fans to win over, but the inner-teenager within us all went home very happy.
Teenage Fanclub
TEENAGE FANCLUB – “HERE” Out Now.
