Artist: The Fratellis
Venue: 02 Shepherds Bush Empire
Date: 24 November, 2013
Upon seeing the size of the crowd packing out Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Sunday, I realised that a large following still existed for The Fratellis, a band whom I was a big fan of around five or six years ago but have since near enough forgotten.
Upon hearing the reception for their opening song, I also realised that the majority of these fans weren’t there purely for a bit of mid-noughties indie-pop nostalgia, with ‘The Old Ghost Town’, a track that appeared on this year’s ‘We Need Medicine’ welcoming a fair bit of excitement from their followers. The audience were well up for it, and their frontman Jon Fratelli’s charisma and image really got them going, but I must say the stage-presence of the rest of the band put a bit of an unconvincing tint on the performance, the aged style/appearance of the other two seeming somewhat out of place from a band producing such a youthful sound.
Image aside though, that youthful sound really still is present, and as a collective the Scots are sounding as tight as ever. Admittedly, the highs of the set were hits from their first album like ‘Flathead’, ‘Baby Fratelli’, ‘Whistle For The Choir’ and ‘Henrietta’, and whilst there was nothing too offensive sounding about tracks from the second and third albums, for a band who have produced only three albums, (the first of which being the only one to make a real impact on the music scene) I felt that a 24-track-long set-list was a bit excessive and rather exhausting at times.
Feeling slightly fatigued by the depth of their set, The Fratellis finally reached the moment everyone had been waiting for; ‘Chelsea Dagger’, surely one of the catchiest indie tracks of the past decade, and without doubt the one most will think of when they hear the band name. Jon leaped around the stage with almost as much swagger as that football terrace chorus, and adrenaline had replaced my fatigue to put a great end to the night.
Oh, but wait… It wasn’t the end. Only one tracked followed, but all it seemed to do was smother what would’ve been the perfect climax. Overall though, a decent gig from a band with some really great tracks in their locker, the only element detracting from the experience being their somewhat over-indulgent selection of tracks.
7/10
