The `Bandwagonesque` album was my introduction to the joys of Teenage Fanclub over thirty years ago and the last time I had the pleasure of seeing them was around nineteen months ago.
This evening they are back on a lengthy tour, partly to promote their twelfth studio album `Nothing Lasts Forever` and arrive in Birmingham on day thirty. What is unique about this tour is that for the first time ever the band will play a tour of all seated venues.
Support tonight comes from Stephen Black who performs under the Sweet Baboo stage name. `Let`s Go Swimming` a number from a decade ago gets us going before he shares a bossa nova tinged number with `Hopeless`. SB released a new album `The Wreckage` at the beginning of this year, his first for five years and shares a couple of tracks with `Goodbye` which was about his neighbour`s dog whom he walked during the covid lockdown and final number `The Worry`. A song about the singer`s son `Clear Blue Skies` and a number about werewolves which I think was `Tonight You Are a Tiger` were sandwiched in between in this really enjoyable thirty minute set. An entertaining artist and one I’ll definitely try and catch again. SB also joined Teenage Fanclub for the duration of their set as well, adding guitar , keys, and sax.
There`s little fuss or fanfare as the band come on stage and lead us through a thoroughly mesmerising ninety minutes where the fellas try their utmost to share at least one number from each and every album they`ve ever released.
`Tired of Being Alone` and `About You` warm us up before they play the wonderful `Start Again` and Norman shares that it`s the first time they`ve played it on this tour. We get tracks old and new with `Endless Arcade`, `Alcoholiday` and `Did I Say` before a couple of cuts from the latest release with the introspective `I Left a Light On`, expansive country tinged `Falling into the Sun` and chugging `Self-Sedation` with older number `Only With You` squeezed in-between.
The home stretch includes a favourite of mine with `What You Do To Me`, the dreamy `I Don’t Want Control of You` before closing out with `The Concept` from `Bandwagonesque` with the immortal opening line of “She wears denim wherever she goes, Says she’s gonna get some records by the Status Quo, Oh yeah..” wonderful stuff.
The band return for a three song encore which includes a couple of numbers that haven`t been played on the tour so far with the reflective `The Fall` and fairly mesmerising `Middle Of My Mind` but it`s their debut single `Everything Flows` that really ignites this audience and transports me back in time.
How can I best sum up tonight?? It felt once again, as I sat there fairly overwhelmed at times, as if I was catching up with old friends that i hadn`t seen for a while and picking up where we left off.
Norman, Raymond, Francis, Dave, and Eros , let`s hope we can all get together again real soon
