Stereophonics

Just in time for Christmas Stereophonics are on their first of a two night stint at Glasgow SECC in a sold out Hall 4. The well lubricated crowd have donned their Sunday best from the nearest Top Man outlet and the massive female contingent is beyond excitable, verging on the kind of excitement that winds you up with a court order.

A massive red Stereophonics flag bearing the logo from the greatest hits album obstructs the stage view and as the house lights come down, the spotlights probe the hall with a mock ring announcement chalking up the bands (quite remarkable) success in it's near elven year career. All that's missing is, 'Lets get ready to ruuuuuuummmmmmmbllle!'



When the curtains drops, the roof rents itself from its iron holdings, as Kelly Jones and company churn out Vegas Two Times. The sound is offensively below par, Jones' guitar dwarfing the rest of the band and the drums so quiet in the mix that it's a wonder the band can keep in time. It must be stated however that the SECC is always a truly terrible sounding building, however, in this case the mix is not well achieved adding to the buildings lackluster acoustics. In a testament to the professionalism of Stereophonics sound team any issues with Jones' axe are remedied quickly into third song A Thousand Trees. For the band's unofficial anthem Jones has the luxury of 8000 backing singers and the singer bears the grin (noticeable for those in the cheap seats via the two massive screens that flank the stage) to prove it. The rest of the five piece touring band consisting of, Tony Kirkham (keys) Adam Zindani (guitar, backing vocals), Javier Weyler (drums) and Richard Jones (bass) are likewise satisfied, sharing jokes in each others ears while they bounce around stage like kids in a play park.


Continuing to run the gamut of sure fire crowd pleasers, notable performances being The Bartender and the Thief and Local Boy in the Photograph, At some unnoticed point three the vacant music stands situated behind Zindani are populated by a string triplet (violin, viola and an electric cello) to help in what is a very solid rendition of Handbags and Gladrags, which, sat next to Jones' compositions is a very noticeable cover, the harmonic movements of the song standing out like Rhapsody In Blue at a Ramones gig. That, for the punters however, is not an issue as they gladly sing along with Jones like the song is his own. Sound remains an issue though, with the strings barely noticeable amongst the wall of sound bouncing round the tin can that is the SECC.

Jones performs a short few numbers sans band but accompanied by the small string section on a beat up Fender Strat, which are well received, with Maybe Tomorrow providing this fully voiced crowd with another sing along anthem, the hallmark of any Stereophonics live show. Tonight also sees the Scottish debut of a track called My Own Worst Enemy, a track that, although played to the 'Phonics usual standard of perfection leaves the audience cold and uninspired, giving a noticeably lukewarm applause in return.

Stereophonics have clearly invested much of the funding for their tour on one of the most impressive lighting rigs ever seen in this relatively small hall. A massive upper rig and walled backdrop displaying lyrically themed montages is one of the most impressive features of the show, the montages and images being well shot and timed to perfection -ramming home just how professional this 'glorified pub band's' maturity has become.


With the band staying in the wings for the start of the encore Jones proceeds to play a short acoustic set before the band return to play their most successful song to date. Dakota does exactly what one would expect it to do and the audience respond in kind, one unified Glaswegian roar of 'I don't know where we are going now.' turns goosebumps into medical problem.

If anything, Stereophonics are not to blame for gig that was only just short of fulfilling it's promise, a venue with genuine acoustic problems was, for the band themselves (as stated previously) are nothing less than the benchmark for British professionalism in the music industry today. Love them or hate them, Stereophonics know their audience exceptionally well and know exactly how to deliver for them in a way that has not been matched by another British act this decade.

FUTURE GIGS