The only problem at last night's concert was the spicy chicken dinner I had before we headed over to the Armory. Seriously, that bird wasn't giving up without a fight - more stinking repeats than summertime telly. Jonesy was mortified when she realized I was dropping some SERIOUS low-fi belches, however in my defense there was someone else in our row (or just behind us) that was dropping some seriously hotdogian arseticulars. You know who you are. Anyway, let's get on with it.
I'd never been to this venue before and I have to say it fit the occasion perfectly (although the plastic seats weren't that conducive for the ample rumple). Fran's PowerPoint trek through the Travis back-story was very funny and touching and gelled in nicely with the songs and the stories (of which, thankfully, there were many). I've seen Travis quite a few times now in different venues around Boston but this latest stripped down performance was a revelation in two ways - 1) The quality/power of Fran's voice/rhythm guitar and 2) The nuance and power of Andy's guitar playing. When all these core elements fused together last night in Somerville, the results were tighter than a miser's purse.
The only disappointment for me was the audience participation, everyone was too bloody polite and quiet for my liking - although I couldn't help but throw in a few rock audiencey yells and shouts here and there (e.g. during the ballsy guitar breaks in 'Writing to Reach You', 'As You Are' and in particular 'Before You Were Young'...that break/song was the highlight of the evening for me). Of course the evening did have a little helping of hecklage, but Fran was able to quench that out quite nicely - seriously, short-attention spans mixed with alcohol-fueled attention-seeking are becoming a bit of a tradition now at Travis concerts, what up with that, aren't we Travis fans supposed to be geeky rock fans filled with love and respect? (I think the heckler on the couch last night was Irish, 'triffic, way to represent, numb nuts).
At the end of the evening it was really nice to have a few requests from the audience belted out (two songs made the cut, 'Only Molly Knows', 'Battleships') - I tried in vain to have 'She's So Strange' (my personal fave) taken out of mothballs, maybe next time. So, there you have it, a brilliant evening out on the tiles then topped off with some really nice requests, and a lovely little chat with Fran and Andy when I went up to get me bootleg and t-shirt. Good thing we took today off, I was shagged when I got up this morning to take the dogs out...not very rock and roll I know, but there you go.
Haz, it is so nice to see you around again, and as always, I enjoyed reading your review. What a great writer you are. Glad you enjoyed the show. How are you and the Mrs., by the way?
Well, I hope we'll see you around more, and I hope all is well with you.
Hey Edel, Eliza and Sandy (congrats to Sandy also).
Thanks for your kind words all, nice to "see" you again, Jaysus it's been quite a loooong time since we've all had a chance to connect in here. The concert was a lot of fun, really great experience and it definitely makes you appreciate the talent seeing it stripped down like that, you know what I mean? I've just rediscovered Mountain Dew today hence the really long "hello" response to you all *runs marathon* :)
The only problem at last night's concert was the spicy chicken dinner I had before we headed over to the Armory. Seriously, that bird wasn't giving up without a fight - more stinking repeats than summertime telly. Jonesy was mortified when she realized I was dropping some SERIOUS low-fi belches, however in my defense there was someone else in our row (or just behind us) that was dropping some seriously hotdogian arseticulars. You know who you are. Anyway, let's get on with it.
I'd never been to this venue before and I have to say it fit the occasion perfectly (although the plastic seats weren't that conducive for the ample rumple). Fran's PowerPoint trek through the Travis back-story was very funny and touching and gelled in nicely with the songs and the stories (of which, thankfully, there were many). I've seen Travis quite a few times now in different venues around Boston but this latest stripped down performance was a revelation in two ways - 1) The quality/power of Fran's voice/rhythm guitar and 2) The nuance and power of Andy's guitar playing. When all these core elements fused together last night in Somerville, the results were tighter than a miser's purse.
The only disappointment for me was the audience participation, everyone was too bloody polite and quiet for my liking - although I couldn't help but throw in a few rock audiencey yells and shouts here and there (e.g. during the ballsy guitar breaks in 'Writing to Reach You', 'As You Are' and in particular 'Before You Were Young'...that break/song was the highlight of the evening for me). Of course the evening did have a little helping of hecklage, but Fran was able to quench that out quite nicely - seriously, short-attention spans mixed with alcohol-fueled attention-seeking are becoming a bit of a tradition now at Travis concerts, what up with that, aren't we Travis fans supposed to be geeky rock fans filled with love and respect? (I think the heckler on the couch last night was Irish, 'triffic, way to represent, numb nuts).
At the end of the evening it was really nice to have a few requests from the audience belted out (two songs made the cut, 'Only Molly Knows', 'Battleships') - I tried in vain to have 'She's So Strange' (my personal fave) taken out of mothballs, maybe next time. So, there you have it, a brilliant evening out on the tiles then topped off with some really nice requests, and a lovely chat n'huggle with Fran and Andy when I went up to get me bootleg and t-shirt. Good thing we took today off, I was shagged when I got up this morning to take the dogs out...not very rock and roll I know, but there you go.
haz
xxx
ahhhh Haz so good to have you back (and the seeing the tombstone gone! :-P ) and get your witty reviews again! :) reminds me of the first one you did here some years ago... brilliant stuff as always !
