And so it is. Tonight I find myself once again embarking to another out of the ordinary venue on behalf of Rogue Mag to watch those representing the cream of the crop of this country’s Indie and Alternative scene…
Tonight’s gig takes place at the ‘The Globe’ music venue on Cardiff’s Albany Road. Its interior is impressive and amazingly it still looks like a theatre, which was once the building’s sole occupation. The plush surroundings seem to hang heavy on tonight’s audience during support act ‘boy who cried wolf’ as a mood of decorum and mild manners is throughout the crowd during their set. This however, was not to be the case for the entire night thankfully. The Globe’s location right in the middle of Cardiff’s student hub Cathays meant that a wide choice of pubs offering ridiculously cheap pints are to be found a stones throw away from the building. As a result, by the time tonight’s headliners British Sea Power arrive on stage they are met with a more raucous crowd, myself included, fuelled by bargain carling and strongbow. I must admit, the quality of tonight’s pictures suffered as a consequence of this. I have decided to compensate for my drunken blurry photographs by including this nice painting in tribute to the support band’s bassist who looked just like Vincent van Gogh.
Uncanny!
It is not just the band’s bassist who carried a sense of de ja vu. I quickly realised that front man Wayne Murray had been playing backing guitar for the Manic Street Preachers, as I watched them in Newport the night before. I managed to catch up with Wayne before BSP (who also played at the Newport concert the night before as openers) made there way onstage. Wayne was unsurprisingly weary due to his busy schedule, but expressed an interest to come and talk to Rogue about his band’s up and coming EP soon, and like everyone else here tonight, he was very eager to watch his tour mates play.
Quite frankly they did not disappoint, British sea power arrive on stage playing a hyperactive set. The group opened with previous single ‘No Lucifer’ taken from their last full length album, 2008’s ‘Do you like Rock Music?’ the band’s frantic energy, reciprocated by the crowd who pogo and sway throughout. Other songs such as ‘Waving Flags’ taken from that same third record have a similar effect, but remarkably it was the title of track from their latest offering, this year’s ‘Zeus EP’ which got the biggest cheer and sent the crowd dancing like they just found out they were on the same wage packet as Wayne Rooney.
I had previously read about the band’s renown for fancy dress and chaotic stage shows from earlier tours, admittedly absent from tonight’s gig, save for the feature of a rather nifty fox mask during the band’s encore. It seems that although the band themselves may have become slightly calmer with age, the songs remain as passionate and excitable as ever.
