Razorlight - Stockholm Debaser - 26/7/05
4/5
By: Julian Sewell
Hi honey... we're home. It's taken Razorlight a couple of years to get round to playing the motherland of band-members Carl and Björn for the first time. Maybe the locals got tired of waiting, as the venue was still 100 short of its 300 capacity when the lads came onstage. Do you think this will dent Mr Borrell's ego? Have a quick guess. Sandwiched between the Live 8 appearance in front of 150,000 and supporting U2 in front of 50,000 the band could be excused for treating this as a rehearsal session. But from the moment 'Vice' kicked in, there was no doubt the boys meant some beefy, homecoming business.
The album was flown through, which is pretty much all you can do after one such full-length. The energy from Johnny Boy transmitted to the audience palpably, where a certain Mr Howlin' Pelle was seen to be nodding his head in approval. 'Rock & Roll Lies', 'Leave Me Alone' and 'Golden Touch' follow thick, and particularly fast. Naturally, all the excitement causes JB to lose his shirt to the explanation that taking off your clothes in public will never do you any harm. Wise, if untrue, words, brother. The gig only lasts 45 minutes; and who wants a four-hour Springsteen-a-thon, anyway? Finishing with 'Up All Night', the delirious shouts for an encore fall on deaf ears and it was out into the warm Stockholm night air for all.
A notable footnote to the gig: one of the Swedish lads' grandfathers was interviewed in the local paper. He said he might go to the U2 support gig in Gothenburg as he had no idea what his grandson was doing in England, but it was about time he came home and got a proper job. Now why don't we hear Brian McFadden's grandfather telling him the same thing? Please.
Penned With Aiding From Bradley Fry
Artists in this article: Razorlight
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