Athlete

I like the Manchester Academy; I saw Faithless play there in the 90's, I saw an unprepared student actually get knocked over by the initial bass note when Massive Attack played there and I even think I saw Moby play there but that could just have been a dream...

I'm not dreaming tonight, I'm here to see Athlete, one of the crop of the new darlings of the melodic indie music scene. Judging by the crowd in attendance, this is the place to be, the battle to reach the bar is only enlivened by an overheard conversation, a beautiful girl describing her concern that the top she is wearing seems to make her nipples stand out, every man within a 10 metre radius appraises this top and yes, she's not lying...

The band enter stage left and launch straight into 'Half Light' from Tourist, then the title track itself and everything is ticking over nicely. The thing is, this seems to be all there is to Athlete, undoubtedly they have an ear for a good tune and they all seem pretty talented musicians, so why does this appear to be melodic-guitar-music-by-numbers? Only when the earlier 'Vehicles & Animals' album tracks put in an appearance, do we start to see the gig take-off, 'Shake Those Windows' prompts the crowd into some semblance of animation but then it's back to the new album for 'Chances'.

Then a track from the first album, 'New Project' is performed and I think I'm starting to understand why Athlete just aren't setting my world alight, you see 'New Project' has a musical break at he end of the track when the band let go, thrash their instruments and probably crank their amps up to 11, it's at this moment it all becomes clear, Athlete are just too darn quiet, before this moment, the buzz of conversation around me had persisted, now it's drowned out and the band have my full attention.

They launch into 'Vehicles and Animals' and a good portion of the crowd happily belts the words out with Mr. Pott but then 'Yesterday Threw Everything At Me' follows from the new album and I can hear the incessant droning of the crowd, chatting around me again.

Don't misunderstand me, I like the new album, I think 'Wires' is a beautifully crafted song, a song which makes Athlete accessible to the masses who are anxiously awaiting the new Coldplay album, and therein may lie the problem, it's possible that there's too many people here whose experience is limited to 'Wires'.

We alternate between the two albums for 'Westside' and 'Twenty Four Hours' and then the moment a sizable portion of this crowd have been waiting for, the opening bars of 'Wires', abruptly all attention is focussed on the stage and the band deliver a beautiful rendition of an exquisite song and the crowd lap it up, because this is 'quiet' music and this is what Athlete seem to do best.

Exit stage left, for the obligatory opportunity for the crowd to show their appreciation and then it's back on stage for 'Street map', 'You Got the Style' and finally the good old sing-along number 'Beautiful' and that's it, Athlete have run their race and their off to play in Newcastle tomorrow night.

I can't say I haven't enjoyed it but I can say I've enjoyed other gigs a lot more, now, where's that beautiful girl with the outstanding nipples...?

Incidentally, I stumbled, post-gig into 'Big Hands' the bar next door to the Academy and saw a band there called '2FO', if you get the chance I'd recommend them, they put me in mind of Slovo, and I can't heap praise higher than that.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.