I love a tuneless, drunken singalong
I never saw Shed 7 the first time round, so I can’t draw on previous gigs to say if this was them as good as in their late nineties prime, however Newcastle Academy was one packed out place on this Saturday night. The roar that greeted the reformed Brit Pop band as they took to the stage didn’t decrease in its level of acclaim throughout the set.
I saw the Arctic Monkeys play this venue just after their debut album was released, and although both shows were a complete sell out, the Sheds visit just looked more packed. Maybe it’s because of the older age of the crowd (most in their twenties or thirties) which meant that plenty more people would congregate around the bar, or stand six deep at the top of stairs, but moving about the venue was as tricky as I’ve ever seen it.
After an impressive support slot from new York band The Yards, with plenty of classic anthemic Indie tracks that set the tone perfectly, it was time for the nostalgic fun to begin.
The line-up for this tour includes guitarist Paul Banks, the first time he’s appeared onstage with the Sheds since 1999. The quintet was completed by other original members Joe Johnson, Alan Leach, Tom Gladwin and front man Rick Witter, the latter turned in a hugely entertaining performance, bantering with the fans from start to finish.
Fan favourite ‘Getting Better’ and the excellent ‘Bully Boy’ appeared early; with ‘Dolphin’ going down well with those that had followed the band from the very start.
Those there who only knew a handful of hits may have found the bits in between the classics a touch uninspiring, but the setlist was sufficiently well balanced to mean that a track like ‘Speakeasy’ or ‘On Standby’ was never too far away.
As the hour mark past the band were building momentum well for the climax. First came ‘She Left me On Friday’, before the biggest alcohol fueled sing along of the night for ‘Chasing Rainbows’. Shed 7 may not be in the big league with the likes of Supergrass and the Charlatans, but this is one point when they’re a match for anyone.
The bouncetastic ‘Disco Down’ brought the main set to it’s close, before the returned for the encore that once ‘Chasing Rainbows’ had gone, inevitably concluded with ‘Going For Gold’.
Let’s be honest, if you were looking for a night out to see a band pushing back the musical boundaries, or reinventing themselves to fit in with a current trend, you ain’t gonna go see Shed 7. If however, you’re idea of pre-Christmas fun is a few pints in a city that lives on it’s reputation for knowing how to have a good Saturday night, then Shed 7 provide as good a soundtrack as any: there’s enough room for both types of gig. A lot of the mainstream bars in Newcastle city centre play the same collection of what seem to be called ‘party classics’, but I doubt many in the Carling Academy would have swapped ‘Summer of 69’, ‘Living on a Prayer’, ‘500 Miles’ or the start of a month of Slade and Wham for ‘Chasing Rainbows’, ‘Disco Down’ and the like.
When you consider the value for money question, you should also think about the number of bands who’ll play venues the size of the Newcastle Academy with only one album and a couple of reasonably successful singles to their name. Supply and demand means this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and I’ve seen many a great gig from these sorts of acts, but it can be argued that a ticket price of fifteen quid or more is a lot to fork out if you only love a couple of songs, but still want the chance of seeing those played live.
The number of hits Shed 7 have, whether you had forgotten about them or not, meant that the value for money of this particular gig cannot be doubted. This tour was announced as being a chance for the band to play the greatest hits tour they never got the opportunity to do. Mission accomplished, with a lot of happy fans given a trip down memory lane.