I suddenly felt old. It happened when I recognised some
faces in the crowd because they frequent the same Stonehaven to Aberdeen bus
route that I do. They are at least eight years younger than I am, but despite
this they make up a similar crowd or ‘clique’ to the one I was part of at
school. This made me think of that saying; the more things change the more they
stay the same. This comforts me despite the sudden sensation of feeling my age.
It was when this thought had firmly entrenched itself in my mind that the first
act took to the stage.
Gav Prentice, usually of electro-pop-folk band Over the
Wall, played a short solo set that was essentially a stripped back yet
energetic way to kick off the proceedings. It put me in mind of other Scottish
troubadours, in particular Withered Hand who makes a handy point of comparison.
The majority of the set is just Gav, his voice, his guitar and his anecdotes.
When one gig-goer yells that he looks like Justin Bieber with a beard he
compares the baby-faced singer to a guy from his old school who used to get his
dick out a lot. With that he launches into the last few songs where he’s
accompanied by a pre-programmed keyboard and the crowd seem to get into things
just that wee bit more. The drunk guy next to me who wouldn’t stop talking
through the set even managed to shut up for a few minutes. Gav then made his
farewell and the crew set up the stage for the next support band.
I’ve seen The Little Kicks a few times in various venues
around Aberdeen, and while I’ve never gone out of my way to see them I’ve
always enjoyed them live. They played a typically tight, energetic and highly
dance-able set to the enjoyment of the crowd. There’s some interesting dancing
that evolves into something of a dance-off during one of the songs to the
amusement of the band. The Little Kicks know what they’re doing; they’ve been
doing it for a while now, and you get the sense that big things are just around
the corner for them. Based on their live show, it seems inevitable.
Before the headliners begin the drunk guy who was next to me
seems to have been thrown out only to be replaced by a couple of women who are
extremely drunk and very into waving their arms around. I realise that if We
Were Promised Jetpacks aren’t extremely good then these people could
potentially ruin the night for me. Fortunately, they are extremely good and the
entire crowd seems to agree. They start with Short Bursts from their first album and it sets the tone for the
night. Songs from the first album, These
Four Walls, get raucous, full-throated sing-a-longs and songs from the
second album, In the Pit of the Stomach,
get a lot of head-banging, arms-in-the-air appreciation. They play the best
songs from the new album including Boy in
the Back Seat, Sore Thumb, and
lead single Medicine which is the
only point that the sound is anything other than stellar. Adam’s voice is so
powerful that he can step away from the mic and still be heard over the wall of
sound. When they launch into album-closer Pear
Tree the hairs on my arms stand to attention. I wondered how they could
possibly recreate the thumping, climactic build-up live and I was not
disappointed. These are guys who love playing rock music with each other and it
really comes across live. Jetpacks are
tight as bits without sounding too polished and it’s never dull. They finish
with first-album favourite It’s Thunder
and It’s Lightening and every single set of vocal chords in the venue sings
itself raw until the final, triumphant cry of ‘I’m leaving!’ No encore, just a
‘thank you’ and a ‘goodnight’.
LD
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