Unfortunately from The Cooler (just down the road) to the Croft
(just across town), there might be a trek involved to be able to see OPM
tonight, but it’s worth it to see the band in action. This is their first UK
headline tour for a long time, as they continue to tour and play shows off the
back of their enormo single Heaven Is A Halfpipe which originally came out in
2001. It seems hard to believe that it was so long ago, but those in attendance
tonight have clearly not forgotten the impact it made when it dropped all those
years ago.
It packs enough of a punch and enough of a reputation to
bring a fair few people down to the Croft on this evening to witness them in
action, even if there is a seemingly large elephant in the room throughout
whilst the majority of the crowd wait in earnest for “the hit” to drop.
First off though, as they set up, the most noticeable fact
is that the between set tape is a collection of classic wrestling theme tunes
from yesteryear; it’s fucking genius, and I may well just start the petition to
demand that every band in the world should adopt the same approach as they set
up for their sets – it’s awesome.
As OPM take to the stage at 10pm, they crack through a big
chunk of their catalogue, and as enjoyable and fun as they are to watch on a
Tuesday night down in Bristol, they do ultimately lack more than a handful of
killer songs.
That doesn’t really matter though, as they are a solid
enough band to put on a show, and they are watchable all the same; hell, there
are certainly a million and one other worse things you could be doing right
now. It’s a great night. They bring a little bit of the Cali sun into the
Croft, and their rock, rap and reggae infused tunes put a smile on everyone’s
faces.
The band are in good spirits, and peak with a cracking El
Capitan and a powerhouse (almost pop-punk esque) run through of a track called Runaway,
a song I had never heard before, but which hit all the right spots. It’s a
killer tune.
Soon enough, towards the latter reaches of their set, they drop Heaven Is A Halfpipe
to a huge response. It goes down a storm, a fair portion of the crowd leaving
soon after (which I don’t agree with at all), but makes this evening more than
worthwhile for all that have ventured down. A little bit of The Beastie Boys’
Sabotage, and a cover of The Clash’s Should I Stay Or Should I Go do go well
also this evening, but it’s the immortal Heaven Is A Halfpipe that kills it tonight;
even a slightly reworked version cannot dampen it’s greatness.
When you write that hit, you just gotta ride it until you
can no more; OPM are still riding that wave over a decade later, and that is
just desserts for a band that penned one of the most pivotal and defining songs
of a generation.
It’s great to see them over here on a rare tour, and great
that quite a few people came out to greet them; that, over 10 years later, is
the true marker of a great song, which clearly affected a lot of people.
It doesn’t get much better than that on a Tuesday night in
Bristol.
Enjoyable stuff . . . and . . . oh yes . . .gig season is
back with a bang . . .
This is only the beginning!!!
