There can’t be that many acts who came from the last great era of the band, the very early 2000’s, that have the variety and width of their back catalogue of Sunderland’s finest maestros of the juddering, post-punk guitar, The Futureheads.
Now, I can picture the quizzical looks of people reading that, thinking “aren’t they just those blokes who sung that Kate Bush song?” And to that I would say that you need to get on Spotify or your listening post of choice and find out just what I’m talking about.
It’s taken them long enough to get the best of their existing six albums together in one place, from their self-titled 2004 debut, right up unto their ‘comeback’ record after seven years away, 2019’s Powers, with the release late last year of their first singles collection Decent Days & Nights. Their current tour is in honour of this album, so it’s fair to say that there’s celebration in the air this evening.
It’s also that greatest of things, a new venue for this reviewer, and on entry (sadly once again) I am instantly jealous that I’ve got to come to all the way down the M62 for a room like this. Unfortunately my hometown has nothing like it.
Sauntering onstage at 9:15, the four members (all original, another rarity these days) launch straight into ‘The Beginning Of The Twist’, before attesting to the poshness of tonight’s hosts, having come from their “caramel dressing room”. ‘Radio Heart‘ is played one song too early, thanks to singer Barry Hyde mis-reading his setlist, before the first massive reaction of the night for the single ‘Decent Days & Nights’ itself. In fact, it is the earlier singles that receive the biggest cheers this evening, but it in no way does this feel like a cheesy nostalgia trip, more of just a look-back.
‘I Can Do That’ showcases surely the most unflustered and unfussy drummer in indie pop, Barry’s brother Dave, who’s efficiency in keeping a constant heartbeat all night is second to none.
One of the features of the evening, and a testament to the band, is the between-song chat, which in the wrong hands feels cringeworthy, but tonight it comes across as just four people enjoying each other’s (and the audience’s) company, which adds to the enjoyment of proceedings. It’s a night that needs no gimmicks, it’s simply an 80 minute romp through their collection of bangers.
They only time they turn away from the guitar path, is their cover of Richard Thompson‘s ‘Beeswing’, from their 2012 acapella album Rant, which is captivating and has the audience enraptured into silence, showcasing their undoubted versatility (you wouldn’t get that at a Bloc Party gig).
The noise is back for ‘Skip To The End’, which sees bassist Jaff, described as “the king of the four-string” and being held together “by Benylin and Vodka” due to a big cold, thankfully being still well enough to pull out a triumphant tambourine solo to the delight and amusement of his bandmates, before the singular Powers’ track we get tonight, ‘Good Night Out’, reminds that surely it’s time for a new record (although Barry does have a solo album out next month).
The band themselves (as well as the songs) don’t look like they’ve aged a day, and the prime example of this, guitarist Ross Millard, gets to show off his vocals on the closing main-set trio of ‘A To B’, ‘Carnival Kids’ and that aforementioned ‘Hounds Of Love’ cover.
There’s still time for an encore, very early single ‘First Day’ is blistering, before we get our reward for being such a good crowd (earlier in the set, the band said that if we could “make a Monday night, feel like a Saturday night”, then we’d get the song that an audience member shouted out for, an acapella ‘The Old Dun Cow’, again full of audience participation), which goes down a storm. And they end on an unexpected treat, the non-single, closing track of that 21 year old debut, the ferocious ‘Man Ray’.
With ‘Greatest Hits’ tours, you kinda know what you’re gonna get, but when it comes with the joy of tonight, the ferociousness and relentless quality of tune after massive tune, played one after another, there’s nothing quite like it. An absolute delight.
(Photos: Cheryl Doherty)
