Another Anniversary

I’m at a gig in Leicester tonight. So it’s a case of rush home, get changed, eat toast, chuck a few balls then hare off down the A46.

Support tonight at Leicester Academy 2 comes from the Marsicans, who I saw last in March 2018 supporting Feeder at Rock City. The indie quartet from Leeds go down pretty well with the crowd and are constantly being touted as the next big thing but they’re still not really doing it for me unlike tonight's headliners. They always hit the spot.

The joy of We Are Scientists, apart from their music obviously, is the banter. These are two guys, Keith Murray and Chris Cain (momentarily forgetting drummer Keith Carne), who don’t take themselves too seriously or even seriously at all. There are always plenty of jokey moments between them, quite often at their own expense, which is rare for an American band. Those American singers usually take themselves far too seriously. Which is probably why they’ve had much more success over here than at home and why, presumably, they’re always over here. We just can’t get rid of them. Only kidding guys...

Tonight is in itself a joke. This is a tour to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of their album 'With Love & Squalor' which was released in 2005. So their maths is a joke too or perhaps they’re just hoping that no one will notice when the album came out. With it comes rumours that tapes have been found of an acoustic show that the band played opposite the site of Woodstock Festival in 1969. Hmmm. 

They are introduced tonight by their road manager in a bit of a rambling announcement that to be honest falls a little flat but once the music starts, things are far from flat as they play the entirety of ‘With Love and Squalor’ in order. It is immediately striking just how many tracks from this album are usually in the live set anyway. There really are no fillers on it. It’s also feels a bit strange that they are saving none of these gems for later.

They are calls from the crowd to drop in a few B-sides from that era too which the band, I feel rather unfairly, dismiss out of hand naturally with a joke or two. Seeing as they actually released another album ‘Crap Attack’ a year later which was a compilation of B-sides, covers and different versions of songs on ‘With Love and Squalor’ e.g. a blatant cash in, this seems harsh. How good for instance, and how funny, would it have been to see them reeling out their cover of Sigur Rós’s ‘Hoppípolla’.

Instead, after a short break, they return to run through a set of songs from their other five albums, four of which come from their latest LP ‘Megaplex’ but also includes classics such as Ghouls, Chick Lit and After Hours from their excellent ‘Brain Thrust Mastery’ from 2008.

They return a third time to play an encore of Too Late (from 2016’s ‘Helter Seltzer’) and Dumb Luck (from 2014’s ‘TV en Français’). A top night.

I head home to L who, along with MD, is in bed while the Lad balances precariously on the top of the stairs waiting for me.

 

(Wednesday 4^th December)

Beef Burgers And Jeremy Kyle

I have an awesome ride into work. That’s nothing unusual, it’s always awesome, when it’s not raining, snowing, windy, too cold etc etc. I refuel by way of a pub lunch.

I best not tell L it was pie and chips (or my doctor). L’s already bemoaning her lack of activity this week due to sore eyes (swimming) and sore ankle (running). She’s been checking out the TV times for Jeremy Kyle and threatening to do beef burgers for tea. 

Back home, L meets Daughter off the train. She has come to dog sit whilst we jet set down to London for the weekend. First though I have a gig, although I miss the first of tonight’s bands, The Heartbreaks, who were due on a 6:45 which is way too early to start a gig.

I do see the second band, who are called Superfood and come from Birmingham. They play to a pretty small crowd, so I hate to think how few The Heartbreaks played in front of.

Superfood are very 90s, nodding their guitars furiously at the heavier side of Britpop. They also have a female bass player, which was almost compulsory in the 90s, with waist length hair, boots, black tights and a bare midriff. What's not to like?

The music? Oh yes, that’s not bad either particularly if you like your indie sort of 90s retro, like I do. I’ll be on their website later.

With only half an hour to go until We Are Scientists are due to hit the stage, Rock City is still looking a bit sparse and under half full tonight. I start wondering if perhaps the WAS bubble has burst and it’ll just be us diehards tonight but then suddenly the place starts to fill up. By the time the band take the stage, to the tones of REO Speedwagon’s ‘Keep on Loving You’, the place is almost full, although with the balcony closed.

I'm not sure I like the baseball hat Keith and perhaps he’s not sure about it either as it’s off after just one song, a newbie ‘Return the Favor’ from their just released new album ‘TV en Français’.

Old favourite ‘After Hours’ follows and then we get down to the serious stuff, the banter. Although... perhaps the banter’s a bit tired this year. I think we've heard all these gags about Robin Hood before, like the last time they played Nottingham... and the time before... and Keith still can’t pronounce Nottingham. So it’s sort of good when the boys move on to argue about Miley Cyrus.

In between the banter, there’s the music of course, which is still good and it’s great to see that everyone still goes mental for ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt’. I’ll assume that girl who is yelling ‘My body is your body, I won't tell anybody, if you wanna use my body’ at the top of her voice in my ear doesn’t mean it, at least not to me. Perhaps she’s yelling at Keith.

She’d be wasting her time yelling at Keith Murray’s sidekick and bass player Chris Cain. Chris still seems distracted at the thought of Miley Cyrus, who apparently is in the crowd tonight. ‘Scream if you’re here Miley’ he asks and Miley obliges, screaming from all four corners of the venue at the same time. Impressive. This one’s for you ‘Sprinkles’, another of their new tracks.

The highlight, as ever (for me), follows in the glorious ‘Textbook’ from way back as they play pretty much all the big songs you’d expect them to play except for ‘This Scene is Dead’, which is a bit of a big omission but no worries, I like it when bands shake things up and there’s more than enough oldies tonight to keep everyone satisfied.

Highlight of the new material probably belonged to ‘Make It Easy’ which comes in three from the end and then in just over an hour and only 14 tracks they’re rounding things off with ‘It’s a Hit’.

They come back on for a photo with the crowd and Chris dedicates ‘Can't Lose’ to everyone in the audience called Chris... or Miley.

Then I discover that the guy stood next to me on the front row has colluded with one of the bouncers and has got a note up on to the stage where it’s stuck to Keith’s jacket. Keith reads it out and it’s a marriage proposal, not to Keith but from the guy to his girlfriend. Who, as they are both hauled up on stage, replies ‘well I’ll have to now’. That may be a yes.

The night ends with ‘The Great Escape’ dedicated to the happy couple and of course, Miley, who presumably is by now down the front screaming along. Possibly.

Then they’re gone and all ready to spend their day off tomorrow in Nottingham, the lucky people.

(Thursday 13^th March)