Whether or not that has had an impact on attendance is unclear, but it certainly doesn’t appear that the Academy is rammed tonight. Sure, the venue is far from empty, but I was shocked to not see it packed out for the return of the New York natives, back with the original lineup responsible for the genre classic and definitive Tell All Your Friends. Approaching its tenth anniversary next year, TBS play a hit packed set tonight, drawing a lot of material from that first record, but still play plenty of tracks from all of their other releases over the years.
Those who are in attendance are treated to a special evening indeed.
Over the course of 90 minutes the band show just why they are so highly thought of throughout the scene and why they were once tipped to reach dizzying commercial heights. Sure they seemed to have lost their way as of late, but the return of John Nolan and Shaun Cooper to the fold has seemingly given them a new lease of life, as proved by the fantastic self titled album they released earlier in the year.
They are well and truly back on top form as well, as tonight only goes to show.
The band look genuinely thrilled to be walking the boards together tonight, and the hits come thick and fast throughout. Opener El Paso is still (in my humble opinion) the worst track they have ever written, and it does get a muted response as far as openers go. But as soon as the band kick in with a skyscraper sized MakeDamnSure, there is no doubt whatsoever, that tonight is going to be a special night, and one packed full of call and response with a devoted and vocal fanbase.
The charismatic frontman Adam Lazarra is still the picture of camp showmanship, as he dances across the stage, hurls his microphone through the air (and often around his neck) and emotes like no other. His interplay with John Nolan, especially on the earlier material is second to none, and a real joy to behold. At times the crowd work in unison with him, to the point where you can barely hear him over the huge unified voice of the assembled throng. The fact is though, that this band just have the songs, and once El Paso is out of the way, it is an all out hit fest from there on in.
You Know How I Do (the opener to that seminal debut), Liar and latest single, the anthemic Faith (When I Let You Down) all come out early, and throughout the set the band can pick and choose from a plethora of massive songs, all of which are greeted with frenzied response. Set Phasers To Stun, One-Eighty By Summer, Timberwolves At New Jersey, Error :Operator – they are all there, and slot in seamlessly with two of the stand out tracks from the self titled opus, This Is All Now and You Got Me.
The tempo may drop slightly while the band cover a Straylight Run number, but either side, it is hit central for the duration.
You’re So Last Summer and Cute Without The E (Cut From The Team) are two other standouts in a set filled with many, the latter seeing Lazarra take a trek through the crowd to end up at the sound desk at the rear of the venue.
By the time the band finish on There’s No I In Team (a song Lazarra once claimed he would never sing again) it is clear that old wounds have been fully healed by the band, and that the future is in their own hands once again. Would anybody really ever bet against them succeeding one more time?
When you have the songs, you simply have the songs.
Still a phenomenal, and utterly essential, band.
El Paso / MakeDamnSure / You Know How I Do / Liar (It Takes One To Know One) / Faith (When I Let You Down) / Bike Scene / One-Eighty By Summer / Error: Operator
Timberwolves at New Jersey / Existentialism On Prom Night (Straylight Run cover) / What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost? / A Decade Under The Influence / This Is All Now / Set Phasers To Stun / You're So Last Summer / Ghost Man On Third / You Got Me / Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team) / There's No 'I' In Team
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