Mansun - Cambridge Junction - 14/5/02
3/5
By: Andy Willson
Set-List: 'Legacy', 'Slipping Away', 'Being a Girl', 'Keep Telling Myself', 'The Chad Who Loved Me', 'This Is My Home', 'Getting Your Way', 'Wide Open Space', 'Secrets', ENCORE, 'Take It Easy Chicken'.
Due to past successes, Mansun have become accustomed to playing wide open spaces for most performances. So, imagine the delight experienced by fans when they discovered that their favourite UK-act's current tour was to occur within a confined set of venues across the length and breadth of the country - complete with a set-list promising something different...
Indeed, the outing is all in the name of previewing new material, with a few old favourites chucked in for good measure. It's been nearly two years since the group's last effort, 'Little Kix', and Mansun look as if they have taken the time out to rethink their strategy of competing in such a ferocious musical-climate of present; after all, frontman Paul and drummer Andie arrive on stage with matching squaddie haircuts, Chad sports a freshly grown beard, and Stove, well, kinda still looks a bit like Stove.
The running-order of tunes aired on this current British jaunt for the boys has been the same on all previous dates, but Mansun decide to change the track-selection for this evening. Events kick off with a searing 'Legacy', instantly livening the crowd, following which they introduce the first new song of the evening, 'Slipping Away': an upbeat, thrashy number, reminiscent of earlier endeavours. Predictably, the tried and tested 'new song-old song' sequence follows as they tempt the people to more of what they want.
Out of the latest tunes, 'Secrets' and Getting Your Way' stand out the most considerably, the best description being that they sound like the group at their most classic and career-defining period during the late-90s. At the start of the former, for instance, Paul even prompts the crowd to raise their hands and clap through the intro, cranking proceedings up a notch, yet, no sooner is this finished, all are treated to the screeching guitar-inferno of a blistering 'Take It Easy Chicken', which, rather unfortunately, is the final track. The audience wait in anticipation for the guys to return, but, alas, such hopes result to no avail.
For many fans, the chances are that their first live-experience of Mansun in concert was seeing them support Shed Seven at the very same location this evening, and it genuinely seems as if life has gone full circle. It's interesting to note that they didn't play barely anything from second album 'Six' or third-LP, 'Little Kix'; and, funnily enough, judging by the new material, they are almost returning to grass roots. As a result, their style of music may not act as the most current of flavours out there, but, clearly, enough people present on this series of live-dates have tasted what's on offer, and are happy to come back for more.
Admittedly, the encounter may have been a short-lived one, but Mansun proved that they still know how to raise the roof, and that such a power most likely won't ever change - with or without the beard.
Artists in this article: Mansun
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