Keepin' it fresher.
Coming so soon after a satisfactory if not startling performance in Glasgow, The Go! Team were back in Scotland, this time playing to the Edinburgh masses. Tieing in with a major music magazine to provide the University freshers some entertainment (whilst no doubt drumming up increased awareness of the magazine to a new market), the band found themselves top of a bill which promised diversity, if not the headlines of last years tour. When the freshers arrived in 06, the NME were beginning to push the Nu-Rave buttons and that tour featured Klaxons, Shitdisco and Datarock on a show that thrilled and partied its away across the country.
The Go! Teams arrival on stage was their usual brand of feedback and lights and although the hall wasn't as packed as it could have been (perhaps the grant cheques had been delayed), the energy from the band was no less than what it usually was.
By now, people know what they are going to get from a Go! Team show. Ninja is going to bounce and cajole the audience into participation, the backdrops are going to swirl and feature as many old-school references as possible and, if the night goes right, the samples will blend effortlessly with the myriad of drums and guitars on-stage. Thankfully, the sound quality was much improved on the murkiness that blighted the Glasgow set, and for all that night featured a more emphatic atmosphere, this night was louder. Its rough to compare a Friday night in Glasgow to a Tuesday night in Edinburgh but Scotland's capital wasn't coming off much worse in the greater scheme of things.
Even though 'Proof of Youth' had been available for a few weeks the older material was still the clear favourite amongst the kids, with 'Huddle Formation' and 'Bottle Rocket' standing out. Theres an energetic vibe to the band when they're on form and the latter was fantastic, dancing and smiles breaking out across the venue. Its not that the new material isn't good, there are some right good songs on it but overall, the album just feels like a rehash of the first album but with a little bit less quality. Given that the band broke so well because they seemed fresh at the time, its inevitable that a failure to progress will seem like failure. Its not but that's just how it feels at times.
'Doing It Right' an obvious highlight of the new record, and crowd favourite, helped bring the night to a frenzied close but even that paled in comparison to 'Ladyflash', which appears to becoming the bands signature tune.
In managing to redeem themselves after technical problems halted their charge earlier in the month, The Go! Team should have did enough to give some freshers good formative memories of their Uni years and set them off on the right path!