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Stereophonics, 09 March 08

The Roundhouse, Camden, London

My friend Dimo and I meet in the Enterprise (where they were playing Just Enough Education To Perform) and down a couple of pints before heading over the road to the Roundhouse.

I’ve been here before. But way back in my early teens, prior at least two refubs that I know of (the venue, not me, but then again). I have no idea who I saw, but I have a vague recollection of staying with friends, somewhere locally and owning a coveted, plastic carrier bag, with a picture of a bear on it, possibly with a slightly smutty name. ‘Nookie Bear’ maybe. Strange the things that you remember.

Tonight’s audience is almost entirely male, and older, but not necessarily wiser! It’s full of great actors – you know, that “I really need to get past because I’m looking for my friends down the front” thing that people do. We’re chatting about this when a guy behind me remarks that as he’s short, he gets all the traffic because “I’m always the path of least resistance”. I thank him for taking the onus off me!

Support tonight comes from Blackmarket, who play an eight-song set of loud and frenetic indie /punk tunes, with vocals laced with more gravel than Kelly Jones himself. There are elements of The Hives and The Strokes in their danceable indie, short and sharp but with a lot of underlying soul. It’s all about guitars and the feel of rock ’n’ roll. A hard band to research, look on MySpace and you get a rock band from Arizona, another from Warsop, a dub band from Montreal, a 30 year old female from Texas that may actually be a bar, and UK band that I think might be the right one. But if that’s the case, the songs on their site simply do not do them justice.

A perfect choice for tonight, Blackmarket are a band to watch out for, assuming you can find them.

Blackmarket – Pigeon Foot

With tonight’s no-nonsense set, Stereophonics prove that the way to rock a room is with good old fashioned rock ’n’ roll. There are no tricks or gimmicks, the band power through a solid set of tracks that were chosen by the fans. Over 20,000 people nominated their top 10 songs on the bands website, and the results were used to compile the list, performed to the tonight’s 3000, capacity crowd.

Opening with Bank Holiday Monday, they pound through The Bartender and The Thief and into a rocked-up rendition of A Thousand Trees. Amps are ramped up to breaking point for a riotous Doorman and there’s a much welcomed rare outing for Same Sized Feet. “This is a song that took 20 minutes to write and 10 years to explain” says Kelly – Mr Writer needs no further introduction. Wrapping up the main set with first single Local Boy in the Photograph, Stereophonics leave the stage to rapturous applause.

Kelly returns to the stage for solo, but far from acoustic, versions of Have A Nice Day and Maybe Tomorrow. The band return to the stage to rip through T-shirt Suntan and complete the night by rocking through most selected track, Dakota.

As we voted for the content, the set could not fail to provide exactly what we wanted to hear – 23 tried and tested songs, but somehow it was not as engaging as I would have hoped. A great performance, every note well executed, but not particularly inspiring. Perhaps it’s all a bit too similar and familiar, maybe the set list was just that bit too long for a band with such a signature sound.

One thing’s for sure though – Stereophonics know how to rock.

The Stereophonics played
Bank Holiday Monday
The Bartender and The Thief
A Thousand Trees
Superman
Vegas Two Times
Devil
Hurry Up and Wait
Pick a Part That’s New
It Means Nothing
Same Size Feet
Mr Writer
Just Looking
My Friends
Doorman
Traffic
More Life in A Tramp’s Vest
Carrot Cake and Wine
Local Boy in the Photograph

Have a Nice Day (Kelly solo)
Maybe Tomorrow (Kelly solo)
I Stopped To Fill My Car Up
T-shirt Suntan
Dakota

The Stereophonics are
Kelly Jones – Vocals & Guitar
Richard Jones – Bass Guitar
Javier Weyler – Drums
Adam Zindani – Guitar & Vocals

Favourite Stereophonics lyric
There’s more life in a tramp’s vest.
A possible contender for best ever lyric – except for the verruca socks, obviously.

Quite Interesting
In an interview with the Metro newspaper April 9, 2001, Kelly Jones was asked about Mr Writer. He replied that he was friendly with some journalists, “it’s just a song about a couple of people that have been around me, really. It’s supposed to be a bit of a sarcastic song but, judging from some of the reviews, it seems some people didn’t really get it. I think the fuss about it from some members of the press has been blown out of proportion.”

Bank Holiday Monday / The Bartender and the Thief

Devil

Hurry up and Wait

Same Size Feet

Just Looking

More Life in a Tramps Vest

Local Boy in the Photograph

Have a Nice Day / Maybe Tomorrow (Kelly solo)

T-shirt Suntan

Dakota