Travis - London Astoria - 16/8/99
4/5
By: Toby L
Set-List: 'All I Wanna Do Is Rock', 'U16 Girls', 'Good Feeling', 'Writing To Reach You', 'As You Are', 'Why Does it Always Rain on Me?', 'Village Man', 'Good Day to Die', 'More Than Us', 'Driftwood', 'Turn', 'Slide Show', 'Happy', ENCORE, 'Flowers in the Window', 'Blue Flashing Light'.
Fast-rising act. Secret-gig. Anticipation. It took just over an hour to get the theatre almost full, fans striding in proudly with their free tickets. Joni Mitchell was pumping out of the speakers, an artist the band had covered on a recent b-side, followed by Stevie Wonder. Upon reflection, a mildly obscure choice - yet the correct atmosphere-conjuror for what was to advance before our eyes.
The lights go down and there they are. Dougie's boyishness clearly projecting right to the back of the room and Fran's child-like smile melting the hearts of the young girls at the front. Before cheers could be fully exerted, 'All I Wanna do is Rock' is launched, its chugging pace and roaring guitar making it an almost intimidating choice. After pub-rock standard 'U16 Girls', 'Good Feeling' began with an eruption of claps, proving a definite highlight, if only for the ever-frivolous, tobacco-chewing piano-solo nearing the song's close.
Yet it's 'Writing to Reach You' that truly ignites - an emotive tune that was always too beautiful on record, only trebled in emphasis and command in a live-setting. Its twinned highlight, 'As You Are' - explained by Healy in hippie-mode to be about 'being open to help and change in life' - is a similar masterpiece, its eerie, haunting close as intimate and stark as the Scottish quartet reveal themselves to be all afternoon.
After a splendid 'Good Day to Die' ('We've been really nervous through that because we've only just learnt it!'), the dazzling splendour of 'Driftwood' and 'More than Us' surged into the afternoon's sure-fire anthem, 'Turn'. The otherwise reserved frontman's exceptional whine covered this miraculously, prompting suspicion that this is to be the band's fourth single to be lifted from the ever-selling 'The Man Who'.
The last of the slower numbers, 'Slide Show', gets described by Franny as a song about 'a bookmark for the music I like', which is fair enough, for the lyrics in the most delicate song of the new album, feature references to the likes of works by Oasis and Beck... Thank God he wasn't a fanatic of Black Lace, then.
The rousing 'Happy' closed the first set leaving Fran to return centre-stage by himself to rapturous applause. Playing a particularly endearing new song ('Flowers In The Window'), the tune of which still echoes through fans' ears no doubt, expect another hit-single for the foursome; our singer, revelling in its excellence, becomes confused. 'This is a very good song I wrote. Then again, I would say it's good because I wrote it... Actually, no I wouldn't. If I wrote a shite song, I'd tell you it's a shite song.' A majestic concert concludes with the manic 'Blue Flashing Light', which had all jumping so violently legs are most likely still throbbing.
They rocked. They chilled. They met expectations and even more... The last huge band of the 90s anyone? Travis have certainly proven themselves strong enough today to adopt such a title, after all.
Artists in this article: Travis
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