The Killers / The Futureheads / Bloc Party / Kaiser Chiefs - London Brixton Academy - 9/2/05
5/5
By: Andy Willson
For anyone that ventures further afield than merely listening to their favourite bands on the iPod or at home, making the journey to catch their idols live, all and sundry remember the greatest gig they've ever been to. For those offensively lucky enough to attend tonight's proceedings, they might just have a brand-new entry.
Tonight is the final date of the notorious, annual 'NME' Awards Tour which has travelled the length and breadth of the country bringing new sounds to the masses. It's an eclectic bill, from chart-friendly, 80's-harking tunes by The Killers, to the downright mental sound of newcomers The Kaiser Chiefs, every taste is catered for this evening.
First up are soon to be stars, the aforementioned Kaisers, a band who've risen from the flames of Parva (who we might add, were also alright), and if all South African football teams sound this good, then we're moving over there. Pronto.
Maybe Franz Ferdinand or The Strokes started the smarter-looking indie outfit, but Ricky Wilson and his band take things to the next level. If it gets a bit warm onstage, chuck off what you're wearing and get on with it, but not so with the Kaisers. Bring your own coathanger onstage and what better place to put it than on the back of the keyboard. Yet such faux-sophisto is all a trick; the next thing we know is he's turned loopy on us and started doing backwards somersaults while singing 'Oh My God' and pogoing like a crack addict. Though there's a disarming wealth of 'Woooooooooooohs' and 'Yeeeeeeeeeeeahs' in each track, the combination is a menacing, potent cocktail of new indie from this Leeds quartet, and it charms. Standout number is trashy, pounding single 'I Predict A Riot', and the resultant scene's not far off one.
From the response, it would appear that many have travelled to finally see what everyone else is talking about. Art-punk-songs foursome Bloc Party are next in line and they don't disappoint. The second Kele opens his mouth the front half of the crowd becomes a swirling mass and stays that way long after they leave the stage. Drummer Matt Tong can't be arsed to wear a shirt as he proceeds to smack the crap out of his percussions. Once 'Helicopter' kicks in you know that this is a band to be cherished and destined for even more flourishing scenes, while the defiant swansong is the swooning 'So Here We Are', just to prove that it's not always manic in the Bloc camp. It's also quite beautiful.
Something a little bit leftfield now, well comparatively so at least, and time for the Geordie rascals The Futureheads. Always impeccably dressed, they take stage and fire off a barrage of two-minute songs as if they've been allocated a meagre ten-minute slot and are intent on filling every single second. There's a bit of The Smiths and even early Blur in this frenetic display; even after a couple of pints, it's fairly obvious that bassist Jaff is really Statto from 'Fantasy Football' but this aside, The Futureheads rock. Quickly. All the anthemic singles from their self-titled album are in there - 'A to B', 'First Day', 'Meantime', 'Decent Days & Nights' - and, admittedly, they do almost tend to blend into one another, but it works a treat. 'Hounds of Love', their classic take on the Kate Bush original, closes their set, and a few more of us are left howling.
Headline act time now, and what better way to crystallize the eighties influence than with vocalist Brandon Flowers taking centre stage in a salmon pink leather jacket, plonked behind his synth. Having returned from the Brit Awards empty handed, they blow the clouds away and continue to enthral us.
Some members of the audience aren't fully convinced, however, as several full pints get hurled at Brandon, but this doesn't detract from the job in hand; to those few that may soon comment that the order of acts was slightly erroneous in keeping with the times, if we're going on album sales alone, then someone's spot on - debut 'Hot Fuss' has just passed the 1 million sales mark and hundreds bellow along to each and every track.
Classic hits 'Somebody Told Me' and 'Mr Brightside' mingle well with other numbers and they even preview a promising new song 'Where's She Gone?'. There could be no better finale tonight, though, than with the gospel-infused 'All These Things That I've Done'; however, it exceeds all expectations as all the other bands who've entertained us take to the stage, Kele Okereke arriving on someone else's shoulders. The platform is swamped with bodies so the only thing for it is to stagedive into the baying crowd. Russell (also Bloc Party) instigates this and those who follow are lucky to emerge alive. All joined together in one long line, they take a final bow like the closing shot of a pantomime. The idea that this whole ordeal didn't amaze us? Oh yes, it did.
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