Music > Live Reviews

Teenage Fanclub

The Adrian Flux Waterfront

22/11/16

Teenage Fanclub are a band I’ve liked, if not necessarily loved, ever since I first heard the Bandwagonesque album way back in 1991. Standing out from their indie and grunge peers they specialised in sweet vocal harmonies fused with guitar hooks that had more in common with the Beach Boys and Big Star than the usual crop of influences. Decades may have passed, but the band have continued to write, record and release albums to their loyal fan base; a fan base which may be smaller than in their halcyon days, but by the time they took the stage at the Waterfront the venue was busy with an excited and expectant crowd.

First up though were Glasgow four piece Spinning Coin. A very young band, they still have some way to go, but there were flashes of what they could become during their set. Getting to play larger venues will help them build confidence in their stage presence. Cut from a similar cloth to Teenage Fanclub, their songs were a bit forgettable and the vocals needed more conviction, and whilst this set won’t linger for long in my memory they did show some promise.

The moment Teenage Fanclub strolled onto the stage I very quickly realised that this was probably going to be everything I hoped it would be. The sound was crystal clear allowing those trademark harmonies to ring out loud and clear. At times all five members sang and it really was beautiful. Having never seen the band play live before it was great to see the obvious joy they were taking from playing these songs – this was no surly run through a tired old set, this was a band genuinely happy to be playing these much loved songs for a good sized audience in Norwich on a fairly bleak Monday evening. Nominal frontman Norman Blake’s enthusiasm was infectious; several times I caught myself standing there grinning like a loon, but key to the band’s success has been the fact the workload is shared (almost) equally between Norman, guitarist Raymond McGinley and bassist Gerard Blake, each singing lead vocal on their own compositions. Tracks from new album Here slotted in nicely alongside classics such as Don’t Look Now & About You.

Interestingly their music could easily, in less talented hands be a bit dull, a touch plodding. In the hands of these guys, though, the songs had a brightness to them, Gerard’s bass playing absolutely key to giving everything a forward momentum and the warmth of the music meant that it was always interesting and always faultlessly executed. The main set drew to a close with note perfect renditions of Sparky’s Dream and The Concept, the latter being their best song and one of the live music highlights of the whole year. The inevitable and well deserved encore gave us another three songs, ending, after more than ninety minutes, back where it all started with the opening track off their debut album Everything Flows.

So many elements of this show impressed, but mainly the way the band fuse indie rock, country, fuzz pop and even Krautrock and prog. To make music sound simple is incredibly hard, but to do it with such verve and passion requires serious levels of skill and dedication. I arrived thinking I’d see the band and that would be them crossed off my list – not a bit of it. Next time they visit I’ll be there, grinning broadly, singing along and enjoying every minute I’m in their company.