The Subways
Brighton Concorde 2 07/04/08

It seems like an age since the Subways first album Young For Eternity arrived, and since then they've become an established act despite having yet to release their sophomore record. It will arrive this July, three years after that distant debut. This tour is an opportunity to display some of the songs on it which were first heard at last year's summer festivals.

They bound on stage with remarkable enthusiasm, clearly a band who give it their all every single night, regardless of where they find themselves or how many people they are playing to. They've learnt how to work a crowd and Billy's yelping at the audience is enough to get everybody in the mood to enjoy themselves before they've even started playing.

The set is an understandable mix of new songs, such as Strawberry Blonde, Kalifornia, quite-probably-lead-single Shake Shake, and the strongest anthems from their debut. The new songs slot effortlessly into the set, mostly because they are in a very similar vein to the older ones. Their formula is a straightforward one of simple chords belted out loud with catchy vocals to accompany them and they've decided not to stray from this established angle.

But why should they? Their songs are instantly likeable and always sure to cheer up your day. The Subways are a band you wouldn't really want to go through an experimental phase, it just wouldn't suit them. So they stick to what they do best, and the new songs sound as impactive and seducing as you'd expect. The crowd lapped up every minute of their hour-and-a-bit performance, turning the Concorde on a fairly cold night into a hot and sweating pit, the way all good venues should end up during a rocking gig.

They played with immense energy throughout, a true masterclass in live performance. Billy ended the gig somewhat unsurprisingly surfing his way across the crowd with old favourite Rock'n'Roll Queen bringing the night to a fittingly frantic end.

By Alan Smith

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