The Thrills

The Irish five piece now with two records under their belt had a fair bit to prove tonight. I'd seen them last year at a few festivals and was impressed both with their performance and with their debut album So Much For the City. However having bought their second album Let's Bottle Bohemia I was more sceptical.


Their two support acts Kooks and Concrete were admirable. The former interesting me more than the latter, who despite sounding a bit like Galaxy 500 or The Fall, I felt the lead singer's voice was too frail and there was too much shoe gazing to pull off such delicate songs and engage the audience. Both sets were short though and gave us little chance to properly get a feel for the bands.


After some liquid refreshment and some home cooked cookies (is it just Exeter where they offer home made treats?) it was back up stairs for the main event. Lead singer Conor Deasy has shorter hair and a longer beard than the last time I saw him and they are greeted with a huge ovation. So much so I'm not convinced some of it emanated from the PA. But a sea of hands going back to the far wall made me realise down here in Devon 'surf rock' has a huge following. It's like The Thrills are playing on their home turf.


They didn't disappoint either. There's something to be said for Irish bands playing live, they know how to put on a big show and if the audience respond, which they do tonight, then there's a real rapport. Okay so The Thrills are likely to be forever a live band, with little chance of huge hit singles. But what's wrong with traditional values of great live music? With the big beat opener of 'Tell Me Something I Don't Know' with it's Beach Boy harmonies the mosh pit is rockin' from the off and we all leap like salmon travelling up the Exe!


They follow up with crowd fave 'Big Sur' and you know it's going to be a big night! It's hot sticky and the crowd are all boogying about. They rock it up, even the more laid back 'Your Love is Like Las Vegas' is given extra drive, with a fatter drum fill and heavier guitars, and to be honest as a live track I so prefer it to the original, and the predominantly female front of the crowd are singing their hearts out. We all sing 'Happy Birthday' (loudly and badly) after we are told it's one of the band's birthday.


The predominantly debut material continues with the thumping bass of 'Say It Aint So' and the Byrds style tune has been overhauled for the live set. I miss the next few tracks in a sea of jigging and it's possible there were more new tunes but I'm oblivious and the crowd surfing has kicked off and we all jump deliriously into 'One Horse Town.'


'Old Friends, New Lovers' slows the frenetic dancing down and I move further back in the crowd, (well I have a review to write) which I'm shocked to see is still just as lively and I take in the bright Christmas light backdrop, mirrors and subdued (cabaret-esque) lighting (they have less stage lights than any other band I've seen) and clearly all the band are enjoying being here. So are the crowd dancing about to 'Santa Cruz' and lots of waving of hands. Much like Reef before them, The Thrills are clearly a fave of the South West, perfect for the beach in the summer and have a big following here. Everyone in the sell out crowd knows all the words!


The new material is also well received with a belting version of 'Whatever Happened To Corey Haim', 'Not for All the Love in the World' and 'Saturday Night' all going down a storm. All too soon it comes to an end, and while I have a quick altercation with security, convincing them that the overpowering reek of marijuana smoke is not down to my ciggy, The Thrills return for their encore. The whole time they've been off stage the crowd have been cheering for more!


'Don't Steal Our Sun' blazes from the PA and everyone's singing and happy and the tune goes on forever with kids coming out of the crowd to play tambourines and the band members replaced with gushing girls from the audience. It's a real magical end to a hot sultry summer night in the middle of cold November! We leave to the sound of Viva Las Vegas and tonight it's been Viva The Thrills.

By my reckoning they'll become festival favourites (much like the Saw Doctors) as they've settled more into their sound, they'll be around for a while yet and no doubt they'll be back in 'Exeter Town' again next year! Can't wait! Next time I'm wearing my boardies!

FUTURE GIGS

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