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Review by Rob.

First good album of 2008, but live?

First off a little bit about our venue for tonight's entertainment. Leeds Irish Centre has been around putting on bands for as long as I can remember. It is first and foremost a social club and try as I might I can't get Phoenix Nights out of my mind everytime i go in. The venue consist of a large room with a standing area close to the stage and a raised area at the back with pub lounge type seating and decor. There are 2 bars one on each side, both busy (well it is an Irish club). One strange aspect of the gig is that club regulars can get in, so you get table loads of old blokes drinking Guinness at the back amongst the rock crowd - a bit like a Genesis concert if you like. Oh and one other point, the venue has a car park which usually gets full by 7.30. If this is the case park in town and walk out the 15 minutes to the venue. The area is not the best to leave a car unattended for 3 hours.

We arrived late so missed the support act, and, I imagine, Jerry St Clair doing a lounge version of 'Hey Scensters' or 'I'm not Sorry' to kick off the night's proceedings. So late in fact that there isn't time to go to the bar, or even have a look around to try and spot Keith Lard inspecting the fire escapes, before the refrain of new album opener 'All in it' comes through the speakers by way of intro tape. With a minimum of fuss the band come on and go straight into first album track proper, the epic 'Lights out for darker skies'. Despite the low ceiling and dodgy decor, the sound quality is excellent and brings out the crisp sound of Noble's guitar which drives the track forwards. They follow this with what I think is the best track on the new album, Atom which is similar in style to something off Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. Indeed the band have recently been accused of being Arcade Fire copyists which is both harsh and wrong. I suspect that it was actually the other way round and certainly the Canadians were obviously listening to 'The Decline of British Sea Power' when recording Funeral. However both bands do go for epic rock, and favour the multi instrument approach, though not even Arcade Fire bring an air raid siren on stage to signal the end of a track.

Set wise, it's a good mix of new and old stuff with the former providing most of the highlights which is a great compliment to the strength of the new material. Best new songs are the recent single 'Waving flags which is set to be a festival favourite over the summer, and 'No Lucifer' with its Soccer AM style 'Easy Easy' chanting, which might just provide a future hit single. The older material is well chosen with 'Fear of Drowning' and 'True Adventures' standing out. The band have also incorporated a video backdrop into the stage show which shows nature type footage throughout the show, and a few well chosen animal sample play through the PA to augment certain tracks such as 'Great Skua'. They also have mental part time member Phil who plays a tuba type instrument from the top of the 12ft speaker stack, whilst covered in tribal war paint, then he decides to dive into the audience who wisely parts, given that he is not a small chap. The result is a sickening hit to the floor taken on the chin, a knockout, followed by a trip to the local hospital for several stitches and dental work. All this whilst the band play on unsympathetically.

Encore time sees a run through debut album single 'Carrion' which sequences into 'Rock in A' - a lengthy guitar and violin workout, which sees the air raid siren brought on again to signal the end of an entertaining hour and a half. Always a good night out the band seem to be hitting a creative peak at the moment and by the time the summer comes this show should be one of the highlights of the festivals. Let's just hope Phil doesn't dive from the top of one of those speaker stacks at Glastonbury - its a long way to the nearest hospital.

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