The Subways: Live Review

2008-03-30 12:23:50

Thank God for cars and photopasses, for without both I wouldn’t have been able to even start accomplishing my solo double-gig frenzy of The Subways and The Whip in Nottingham tonight.
    
Obviously the venue was packed in anticipation at the live return of The Subways, who would have been able to fill Rock City, but that’s not the point of these ‘comeback’ gigs. The point is to pack people in until sweat really is dripping off the walls and team this with a knockout live performance. The Subways manage to achieve both, easily.
    
From the opening atmospherics and shockingly bright light display, it was clear that this was not going to be an ordinary show. There are two mixing desks onstage and everything seems a bit Muse. Then Billy Lunn and Charlotte Cooper, now no longer an item, walk onto the stage and the venue lights up. The entire front section of the Rescue Rooms starts moshing like there’s no tomorrow.
    
They then launch into the inimitable Oh Yeah and what follows is like nothing I’ve seen in the Rescue Rooms before. It’s like a musical orgy led by the fans, who yell out the entire chorus in unison while Lunn and Cooper simply play along. They’re not static though; these kids wouldn’t know the meaning of the word. They leap about the stage as if they’re having seizures, screaming at the crowd to make more noise.
    
Some of their new tunes sounded a teeny bit flat, but you really wouldn’t have guessed it from the enthusiasm in the crowd. It never abated once, beers went flying and crowd surfers (yes, crowd surfers) suddenly appeared, leaving traces of their sweaty charm all over everyone.
    
The best new track had to be Shake Shake, with its searing guitar riffs and acidic bass lines, it’s destined to be another single from their Butch Vig-produced second album All Or Nothing.
    
Cooper really should release her own ‘hot bass’ workout DVD; whirling about the stage, stamping your feet and jumping around must really help to keep off the pounds. Lunn makes some comment about worrying that he’d put on weight during their break, which prompts good-humoured abuse from the crowd. They’re nothing if not ‘sexy fuckers’, and they know it.
    
The last encore track Rock N Roll Queen saw Lunn nosedive into the crowd four times – three times from the stage and once, rather shockingly, after climbing the stairs and hurling himself off the top of the balcony! Thankfully he was met with a throng of open arms ready to maul him upon his arrival.
    
I take my hat off to them; I’ve not seen a performance with so much energy in the Rescue Rooms for a long, long time. With a string of new tracks showcasing their new hard-rock edge and a blistering live set, these kids really have grown up.
    
Review: Michelle 'Next stop: The Whip' Dhillon
    
Images: Tara Vickers
    

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