THE COURTEENERS @ THE O2 ACADEMY, LEEDS on Wednesday the 8th of December 2010 

As the crowd blasted out the lyrics to the anthem ‘Not Nineteen forever’ it was hard not to imagine the buzz the Courteeners were feeling as they played to a full house on a cold December night. Liam rightly acknowledged the crowd ‘There’s no other band in Britain who would get a response like that. You are f@@cking amazing’. And here lies the success of Manchester’s Kings of The New Road. For 90 pulsating minutes the band had the crowd eating out of their hands as hit after hit were belted out, every song being passionately sung along to by the mosh pitters, bar dwellers and standing masses of the balcony alike.

Starting off, as they always should, with ‘The Opener’ there was a definite feel that Liam and the boys were maturing into one mighty fine band. It is the 7^th time I’ve seen them in their short career, but this performance was by far their most mature in performance musically. The Courteeners have added a tightness in production that when classics such Acrylic and Cavorting are played you notice the improvement from the raw sound of their early gigs. Liam Fray admitted as much before the release of Falcon. So when ‘Take over the World’, ‘Sycophant’ and ‘Scratch your Name Upon My Lips’ are played it is a rock symphony of immense levels.

Liam Fray has developed as a confident, occasionally cocky, but very appreciative front man. ¾ of the way into the show Liam embraces the rest of the boys who leave for a break whilst Liam plays solo acoustically, including the popular ‘The rest of the World has gone home’, ‘No You didn’t, No You Don’t and the new track from the recently released  Electric Lick EP; ‘Swear Down’. It is this 10 minute spell of Liam playing on his own that you feel the camaraderie between Liam and his fans; girls screaming, groups of lads were shouting his name and the older gadgies wishing we were him. It’s not written in the stars yet, but Liam Fray could become Britain’s best front man!

As the rest of the band returned, they launched into the ‘dancy’ You Overdid it Doll’, which again saw the gig exploding into a jumping mass of bodies singing their heads off.  And then the aforementioned ‘Not Nineteen forever’ and to finish, as is tradition, ‘What took you so long?’. I turned to my mate, who was a Courteener concert first timer, and told him to expect the crowd to be loud in the singalong. They didn’t disappoint!! A gig of high energy, polished performances all round and a crowd baying for more. The Courteeners never disappoint, they just get better!!!

 Set list (I think it is correct)

(1) The Opener

(2) Will it be this way forever?

(3) Acrylic

(4) Cavorting

(5) Cross my heart & hope to fly

(6) Lullaby

(7) Please don’t

(8) Scratch your name upon my lips

(9) Sycophant

(10) Good times are calling

(11) Bide your time

(12) Take over the world

(13) Fallowfield Hillbilly

(14) No you didn’t, no you don’t

(15) Swear Down

(16) The rest of the world has gone home

(17) You overdid it doll

(18) Not nineteen forever

(19) What took you so long?

A big thank-you to Simon Carey for this review.

LINKS:

THE COURTEENERS      http://www.thecourteeners.com/

O2 ACADEMY, LEEDS   http://www.o2academyleeds.co.uk/

By peter on December 9, 2010