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by Spencer Ross
This concert was half
impulse, half truly wanting to go see one of Britain's top rock acts and also
somewhat due to the fact that the St. Germain concert I wanted to see instead
this Tuesday was cancelled. I was almost skeptical about going to a
concert myself again, but my roommate, Dave, has taken to Travis in the past few
days so he decided he'd accompany me.
The venue that Travis was
playing at, Metropolis, is about a 1000 person, general admission theatre.
I'm not sure how many tickets must be sold at Metropolis for it to be considered
a sellout, but attendence at the show looked like it would be very close to that
number, as both the floor and the balcony were packed to see the Scots kick off
their world tour in support of The Invisible Band.
Opening for Travis was an
Alabaman band called Remy Zero, who has apparently been opening for Travis tours
for the past three years. Remy Zero is a band who has a sound that sounds
a bit like an even cross between Live and Counting Crows. The singer,
Cinjin Tate, looked like a cross between Michael Stipe and Moby, and had a sound
like Ed Kowalcyzk of Live. Remy Zero took the stage around 8:30 and
pummelled through 45 minutes of music. Towards the end of the set they
asked the audience members to cheer as if they just heard Travis play "Why
Does It Always Rain On Me" following the song. So this
"rule" applied for the last four songs, "Save Me,"
"Solo," "Gramarye," and "Hollow." And at
9:15, the band left the stage for Travis. [note: Remy Zero will be
appearing on Conan O'Brien on 4 Oct.]
After a rather lengthy 35
minute setbreak and a restless crowd, Travis came out and blew right into the
first single from their latest album, The Invisible Band,
"Sing," complete with banjo acoutriments by the lead guitarist.
The crossover between the banjo and the lead guitar was rather seamless and
added to the live texture of the song. Additionally, the banjo was brought back
later in the set for the song "Flowers in the Window."
Although the crowd wasn't as
physically responsive to the music, it was evident that everyone was feeling the
energy that the band was exuding. In explaining the title of the new
album, lead singer Fran Healy, commented that it wasn't because the band wanted
to be invisible, but because music is something that we can't see.
Instead, we can hear it and even more so we can feel it. "Feeling is
believing," said Healy. He then used the World Trade Center attacks
as a means to segue into the song "Side," a song about us all living
on the same earth. "The grass is always greener on the other
side/Neighbour's got a new car that you want to drive/And when time is running
out, you want to stay alive/We all live under the same sky/We all will live/We
all will die/There is no wrong/There is no right/The circle only has one
side," Healy sings.
Travis played all of their
hits, from "Sing" to "Side," from "Driftwood" to
their most well known hit, "Why Does It Always Rain On Me." The
band made sure to blend a mix from Invisible, but also some older
material. Lead guitarist Andy Dunlop was shining on guitar and his melodic
riffs well carried the songs through. As the show progressed, his playing
style really started to breakout and he made more use out of the feedback with
his Les Pauls and Gibson 330.
Shortly after 11, the
band stepped off for a minute breather and then went back onstage for a three
song encore. The first song, "All I Wanna Do Is Rock," was the
first song that Travis rehearsed together and from what I could guess, it
probably sounded better than that first time. Following that, the bassist,
Dougie Payne, sang lead on a cover of the David Bowie song, "All The Young
Dudes." The last song of the night was "Happy," and was
dedicated to the fans, rounding out a powerful performance and a superb tour
opener. Retrospectively, the concert was definitely worth going to, even
if I hadn't previously heard all of Travis' works. The energy in this show
has definitely sparked an interest in what else they've done.
Travis Setlist:
SET I (9:53)
1. Sing (9:53)
2. U16 Girls (9:57)
3. Writing to Reach You (10:01)
4. Pipe Dreams (10:06)
5. As You Are (10:10)
6. Driftwood (10:15)
7. Turn (10:20)
8. Last Train (10:24)
9. Afterglow (10:29)
10. Side (10:36)
11. Flowers in the Window (10:40)
12. Follow the Light (10:44)
13. Humpty Dumpty Love Song (10:48)
14. Why Does it Always Rain On Me (10:52)
15. Slide Show (10:51)
16. Blue Flashing Light (11:00)
END SET I (11:04)
ENCORE (11:05)
1. All I Wanna Do is Rock (11:08)
2. All the Young Dudes (David Bowie cover sung by Dougie) (11:12)
3. Happy (11:18)
END SHOW (11:23)
30/09/01
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