Stereophonics

Entering the Enmore Theatre I was engulfed by a throng of middle aged English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh expatriates. As I moved to the main hall I overheard crass and excited accents exchanging snippets of stories about music and drinking.

In my experience, British bands put on an entirely different show to American or Australian bands. At gigs like these, the atmosphere resembles more of a football match than a rock concert. The spirited crowd come prepared to chant the choruses of the songs they have grown up loving.

Amy Meredith opened the show with an appalling display of contemporary Australian indie music. The singer Christian Lo Russo pranced around the stage with his foot planted firmly on the fold-back for at least half the show. The band clearly overestimated their capabilities as musicians, particularly vocally. The songs, attempts at being bombastic and anthemic, ended up sounding like a bad parody of a Killers cover band.

By the time they had finished, the room was still relatively empty. Most of the Stereophonics fans were out busy finding a place to drink. The audience were clearly not in the mood to welcome an up and coming young Australian band. They were there for one reason, Stereophonics.

Stereophonics opened at a bittersweet volume which set the mood for the evening. They are a powerful band perfectly in control of the stage. It didn’t take long to really get the feel of what Sterophonics are about; big choruses, hooky verses and a solid, no bullshit rock and roll backing.

Although touring their new record Keep Clam, Carry On, the show had a distinct best-of flavour to it. They played a good portion of the new album such as ‘I Got Your Number’ and ‘Trouble’ which were well received but not with same enthusiasm of their older hits.

Over their near two decade and seven album career, Stereophonics have established them as perhaps the most successful Welsh rock band. Having come in the wake of the hype and success of other Brit-pop bands, they are like the well-dressed, better-behaved younger brother of Oasis.

Undoubtedly encouraged by the audience, the band showed they were still passionate about their older music. They were clearly enjoying themselves throughout and played to each other as well as the audience. There is a charisma and confidence of the band that comes from their hard work and never falls into arrogance.

The crowd was more than prepared to be part of the show, hollering along to older hits such as ‘Uppercut’ and ‘Pick a Part That's New’. ‘Mr. Writer’ was a definate highlight, introduced as a song which “took 10 years to explain”.

After several songs however, the formulae changed very little. For anyone who doesn’t have a nostalgic connection with them, the songs began to loose their impact and sound very much the same. The set was long and lost momentum particularly when Jones took the stage for a solo acoustic number ‘Word Gets Around’.

They saved their biggest single ‘Dakota’ for the encore at the end. Undeniably a great song it ended the night on a fantastic note and I’m sure I was not the only one humming it one the way home.

When Stereophonics return next time, one can almost guarantee to see many of the same faces. If you are looking for something dynamic and progressive it may not have been for you. The audience knew what they wanted to hear and the band played exactly to that. I’m sure none of the die-hard fans left disappointed.

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