the travelling band. live. part II.

who: the travelling band

when: 5 november 2011

where: telford´s warehouse, chester, uk

even though it was bonfire night, there were no fireworks in telford´s warehouse in beautiful chester – at last no real ones. there may have been no pyrotechnics inside the warehouse but everyone who went to see the travelling band there last night was definitely in for a musical treat.

when people ask why someone is going to see a band more than once during the same tour, one thing is certain: they´re no concert-goers whatsoever. the selection of songs may be the same sometimes but every concert is different. the academy 3 in manchester on wednesday was more or less a proper gig venue, whereas telford´s warehouse in chester was more a cross between a bar and a restaurant, regularly putting on small events of all kinds.

since there was no support band for this gig, a dj was playing a rather weird but nevertheless enjoyable mix between 60s motown and rock ´n´ roll classics, basically anything that´s perfect to dance to (which surprisingly quite a few people did).

the travelling band was scheduled for 10.30 pm and they eventually came on stage right on time. a quick glance on the setlist revealed a mix of unreleased (“weary beaten road”) and new (“borrowed and blue”) songs and material from the first album “under the pavement” and the second album “screaming is something”. even though my beloved “hindsight” and “under the pavement” didn´t make it on the list for this gig, the setlist looked promising. the travelling band could probably perform a jingle from some tv commercial and i´d still love it. especially by playing “magnetic anywhere” again, they managed to convince me that this song might just be one of their best ones which i honestly didn´t think until i saw them live. but really, how can you not fall in love with lyrics like “is it just me that can see the needle of the compass dancing like a melody…”?

the two- and three-part harmonies were simply amazing, especially during the last minute or so of “weary beaten road” (it´ll take me two days tops to make the live version from last night the most played song on my ipod!). one thing that i never really noticed before for some reason was how dominant steve´s electric guitar is. he actually had to break one of his guitar strings near the end of the set in order for me to realize that, not that this lowered the sound quality in any way though. nick seemed genuinely happy behind his drums during the entire show and jo definitely impressed my company with his lead vocals. the sound of the harmonica and their absolutely wonderful mix of folk, rock, pop and a little country is perfect for live shows and simply leaves you with an enormous smile on your face.

maybe it was the size of the stage, maybe it was the low ceiling… but there was certainly not as much instrument trashing going on as i would´ve expected, although i´m pretty sure adam´s electric guitar and spenny´s (chris) bass probably have a few more scratches now. nevertheless, the band obviously enjoyed the show more and more with every song they played. the audience did their best to support them by singing along, dancing a lot and applauding loud after every song and even during some songs as well. every person in the crowd seemed to be very appreciative what probably made this night a big success. and who knows, maybe we can talk about the missing fireworks at another gig some time.

setlist

screaming is something

horizon me and you

only waiting

fairweather friends

battlescars

borrowed and blue

one dime blues

weary beaten road

sundial

on the rails

encore

magnetic anywhere

sweet city

 the travelling band

adam gorman & chris spencer

jo dudderidge

nick vaal

steve mullen

chris spencer, adam gorman, jo dudderidge

as if 36 gigs in 39 days wouldn´t be enough, the travelling band still has 6 more gigs on the bill for november/december. visit their website for exact dates and ticket links.

the travelling band. live. part I. -> 2 november 2011, academy 3, manchester

the travelling band. live. part III. -> 7 december 2011, the met, bury