Tellison, Xcerts, Encyclopedia & Gavin Osborn - London Barfly - 23/7/07
4/5
By: Andy Willson
There's nothing better than attending a gig where all the bands are different, experiencing a wide range of music styles, and tonight's proceedings at the Barfly do just that.
Opening act is Gavin Osborn, a singer songwriter from Bedford whose half hour set is crammed with whimsical tales of woe and humour. Take the story of his friend Charlie, who does everything for this girl (including dressing up as a clown and being the only one at his party in fancy dress) and still not getting her, to a failed robbery of a Burger King, to spending a little too long watching a couple have sex in a field in Luton... Highlight of his set is the tale of Jamie Cook, Gavin's star player in his Championship Manager team who single-handedly guides his team from the non-league to Premiership status, only to turn his back on his fellow players. Gavin sings of heartbreak over a computer generated player, but you feel a deep affinity with him as his baby decides to flee the nest of Stevenage Borough FC to pastures new. As a tribute to such a loss, you can get yourself a Cook (No 7) T Shirt downstairs. It's a shame that most of the audience missed Gavin, but it's their loss, not ours...
Next up are a supposed 2 piece from Yeovil, Encyclopedia, from where several members of the audience have travelled (by boat obviously, after all this rain!) to follow their heroes. Live, there are 5 members of the band and singer Benjamin Wood explains that their ranks have swollen for these tour dates, which is just as well. Their opening number takes its rifts straight out of a Thin Lizzy track, but as the set progresses there is much more harmony in a Ben Folds kind of way. Mix in a bit of The Coral's quirkiness and you can almost picture what this band sound like. The newer songs, of which most of the set is made up of, are sparkling pop, but they belt out the heavier 'Me & My Guitar' to close the set, and there are many more smiling faces than just the one that Benjamin has shown us all night.
We've had a bit of folk & a bit of pop, so time for something a bit more hardcore. The Xcerts may look like they've only just left school, but after one flick of singer & lead guitarist Murray MacLeod's floppy fringe, you know that they've been readying themselves for stardom the whole time. Having been compared to the likes of Nirvana in the past, in my opinion they carry out their business in the same vein as Kill Kenada or Feeder at their heaviest. Hailing from Aberdeen, which is pretty apparent in Murray's vocals, they tear through a raucous set that shakes The Barfly to its foundations. Drummer Tom Heron finds himself in the audience by the end of their set, but still manages to carry out his duties. If you're into angsty bands such as Biffy Clyro, you're going to love The XCerts.
The room is filled to the rafters for tonight's headliners Tellison. They start with the beautifully crafted 'Hanover Start Clapping', which also opens their recently released LP 'Contact Contact'. The shared vocals of this song are reminiscent of The Futureheads, but with far more panache. You get a bit of the Perry 'Automatic' style-shouting which compliments Stephen Davidson's singing style perfectly, whilst Ben from Encyclopedia plants himself at the side of the stage to help crank up the volume playing guitar & singing. There are impeccably timed hand claps from large chunks of the crowd to debut single 'Reader' which follows swiftly. Stephen wears a lovely blue T Shirt (with the word Cook and the number 7 on the back - someone was paying attention to Mr. Osborn at least!) as he belts through a jam packed set including 'Ambulance', 'Gallery' and the sublime 'Architects'. There's just enough time for one last song which could only be 'New York New York', a tale of losing a love for fear of travelling there. Tellison are raw and gritty, the kind of in your face band that you'll either love or hate, but one that you'll definitely be hearing much more from in the coming months. I can safely say that there have only ever been 2 relatively unknown bands I've seen where I've witnessed the audience singing large chunks of the songs while the band take an astonished step back, and that other band were from Sheffield, called Frozen Monkeys, Arctic Monkeys, or something like that... I wonder what happened to them?
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