the Pigeon Detectives – Wedgewood Rooms
Currently touring their new album “Broken Glances”, the Pigeon Detectives at the Wedgewood Rooms sold out weeks in advance. The Leeds based indie rock band played a fantastic set, one full of energy largely thanks to frontman Matt Bowman.
It wasn’t all as good as the headliners though, as Nobodies Birthday were about to prove. They may have been ok musically, but it was difficult to see past the terrible lyrics. Full of clichés about love, with song titles such as “Boomerang” and “Jigsaw Pieces”. One being about how it keeps coming back, you know, like a boomerang… with the latter containing the painful tag-line “We fit together, like jigsaw pieces”.
Nobodies Birthday
In contrast, the touring support were spot on. With the intro-tape running, London’s Franklin already had a sense of intrigue about them. Singer Alex Franki had his acoustic guitar throughout, while lead guitarist Brandon Hargrave was determined to show his dedication the cause, despite the hindrance of a broken finger. Their indie tunes are easily accessible, but are far from uninspired, as Franklin play with conviction and are a joy to watch.
Franklin
It’s been 10 years since the Pigeon Detectives debut “Wait for Me”, however the band confidently went with new track “Enemy Lines” to start their set. I don’t blame them either, for “Broken Glances” is an album to be proud of.
The bands 2nd release came out in 2008 and provided the next song, with “This is an Emergency” also finding the audience in fine voice. It wasn’t long until Matt Bowman had already covered pretty much every inch of the stage, broken a mic stand and then fallen off the stage altogether in quite spectacular fashion.
Matt Bowman – the Pigeon Detectives
It’s not just in the name of rock n roll antics, for Bowman is a natural frontman and seems to have endless amounts of stamina. All while interacting with the audience, throwing the right moves for the cameras and being responsible for the Yorkshire accent on indie classics “Take Her Back” and “I’m not Sorry”.
With deliberately no need for an encore, Matt Bowman continued his role as showman, ending the set crowd-surfing before collapsing in a heap back on stage. The band hope to return later in the year by playing “Wait for Me” in full, but for now it wasn’t just the energetic vocalist that needed a lay down and time to recover.
the Pigeon Detectives
The Pigeon Detectives “Broken Glances” out now – read the Mr Teeth Review here.
Massive thanks to Sam Taylor @ Loud Noises Mag for kindly taking pictures on Mr Teeth’s behalf – more photo’s available on the Loud Noises website.
