Belle and Sebastian Live Review @ Royal Court Theatre (Liverpool) - 07 Dec 2003
Live Review
Glaswegian glam/art rock with all the frills, proudced a by the Nick Kopranous fronted mod revival dressing quartet made a laudable attempt to set the mood for the main act. A line from their song sung midset; "Shopping for Blood" put in a nutshell their self opinion; "I am the new Scottish gentry". The slow starting "Travelling" or "Better on Holiday" soon built up the excitement with its snazzy guitars and catchy chorus. Having a sound pitched somewhere between "The Doors" and "Interpol", Franz Ferdinand are living up to the line in their almost anthemic single 'Darts Of Pleasure', with more than half of the gathered masses enthusiastically singing along:
"You are the latest contender, you are the one to remember".
The lights were lowered, and the sound of a string quartet began, prompting an excitable cheer Belle and Sebastian crowd closely gathered to fill the intimate venue. Opener, "Step Into My Office Baby," not a tune easily missed with its catchy retro opening, which instantly captured the crowd with the dancing bug. "Asleep on A Sunbeam" provided a warm reception for Sarah Martin's solo, with her lullaby like voice. "Wrapped Up in Books" gave Stevie Jackson his chance to shine, with a solo introduction to the song, which resulted in plenty of instrument swapping between the band, and a duet between Sarah Martin and Stuart Murdoch, on this 70s retro offering. Slowing down the tempo a little for "Lord Anthony," the crowd looked on appreciatively, listening to the wistful vocals, and stories from school life. Back to the 60s this time for "Roy Walker," with it's almost cheesy, but more retro vocals to sing along to.
"I wondered all night, I wondered all night, about you"
This was also the crowd's chance to participate, with a bit of choreography, as we were guided through our steps of clicking our fingers to the music.
Eighties tinged "Stay Loose" took us on a time machine ride back to the eighties, with The Human League like synthesisers, giving us a taste of electro-pop, for those ardent rock fans, Stevie's guitar solo went down a storm. A lucky audience member had her dream come true, when Jim'll fix it style, she was invited up to sing on stage with Belle and Sebastian, as her friends had requested for her earlier, as all nerves disappeared, she could be mistaken for a band member, and an on stage natural, quite happily helping herself to the bands water. Each song was punctuated with dulcet toned cries of "We Love You," never before have such sweet and tender words had the ability to grate the most open of minds, a somewhat impromptu and less welcome bit of audience participation. As the band left the stage, no lights went up, and it wasn't long before they returned for the welcomed encore, and the crowd was left once more wondering if it would be a double encore, however the lights went up, and it was time to leave, but no one could complain that a two-hour set is not satisfying.
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