We Are Scientists

“This is not an experiment – you will bounce, you will laugh, you will experience joy”. And we did.

By all accounts, this would appear to have been the ninth visit to Norwich since We Are Scientists initially burst their way into this city's musical laboratory in 2006, as part of the annual NME Awards Tour (which, that year, also featured Mystery Jets, Arctic Monkeys, and headliners Maxïmo Park). Since then, they have become almost a regular fixture on our musical calendar, returning to the Nick Rayns LCR in 2008 and 2010, performing twice downstairs at the Adrian Flux Waterfront (2014 and 2016); and three times headlining at Norwich Arts Centre (2012, 2022, and 2023). This year they have sold out the Waterfront Studio, and on the Tuesday night after Latitude, a day when many of us are still removing the last of the dust from their underpants, and still going on about how bloody good David Byrne's Friday night headlining set was.

It is certainly an audience that seems to be up for a good time, with WAS's lead singer and guitarist Keith Murray goading them into believing that tomorrow would be declared a Norwich bank holiday if everybody drunk enough beer tonight. It is, of course, all part of the wit and repartee that continually banters back and forth between Murray and his bass guitar playing partner in crime Chris Cain. It is a vital component of every We Are Scientists gig, and the audience expects and loves it. Drummer Keith Carne, who has toured live with the band since 2013, has no choice but to go along with the flow, and the beat.

And go along with it we do and, even though it remains a very intimate show, the loyalty and dedication of the audience makes one feel as though we are all sharing something rather special here tonight. As the pre-gig publicity declared, “This is not an experiment – you will bounce, you will laugh, you will experience joy”. And we did. Right from the opening bars of opener ‘You’ve Lost Your Shit’ (from 2021’s ‘Huffy’ album) to the inevitable bar-closing strains of ‘The Great Escape’ (taken from ‘With Love and Squalor’ their 2005 proper album debut, and still their biggest selling album to date), the dynamic duo (plus Keith the drummer) kept us entertained, amused and delighted. Exactly as promised.

Opening support came via Brighton-based five-piece scuzzy slacker pop combo Canned Pineapple. Based around the songwriting partnership of Seán Drury and Oakley Gardiner, the band have already visited Norwich three times, supporting Pleasure Inc. at the Waterfront, and also playing Voodoo Daddys and Last Pub Standing. But, as Dury is quick to point out, “never before on a Tuesday”. However, Tuesday or not, they did not fail to deliver, their nine song set sparkling with mostly unreleased gems from their upcoming debut album. Only their closing song, ‘Little Things’, sounded familiar to me but, if you can remember 90’s pop-rock outfit Weezer you will perhaps get a feeling of what to expect. I liked them a lot, and so was thrilled to find that they are already booked to play Voodoo Daddys again, here in Norwich in November.