Review: The Courteeners

First night of band's tour at Nottingham Trent

10 April 2008 - It is time for The Courteeners to put their money where their mouths are as the album is out, the tour has just started and expectations are high.

You would think that after a year of hearsay, boasts and claims about being Manchester's musical messiahs - the first date of the tour might be a shaky affair.

But this was not the case at all when they performed at the Nottingham Trent Student Union on Wednesday 9 April.

Front man Liam Fray was completely comfortable amongst his people. And that's the difference between The Courteeners and the majority of bands in their position. It is not just scensters and NME readers in the crowd - your average music fan is there too.

Your typical Courteeners fan is a pretty loyal beast and despite the album only being released on Monday 7 April, the packed venue sang back pretty much every word of their debut album St .Jude .

"Every track was welcomed by the crowd like an old friend"

MySpace obviously had something to do with that, but the dedication was still there.

That dedication was repaid however. Fray constantly thanked the crowd and his band put in a 50 minute performance despite them only having one album’s worth of material. Fray even played a few songs solo.

Every track was welcomed by the crowd like an old friend, but the big reactions were saved for the singles Not Nineteen Forever and What Took You So Long.

Some of the intricacies of the songs and lyrics were slightly lost in the venue – but they are all competent players and Fray is a natural front man because he knows how to work a crowd.

The future certainly looks bright for this four-piece.

They walk the walk and talk the talk, but most importantly they have the ability to break the mainstream – just the mix of people in the audience is evidence of that.

If this is what the world is waiting for, then maybe the wait is over.


Jonathan Raitt