Finally back on the road supporting their recently released album Mapping The Rendezvous, English indie rock band from Middleton made a heartwarming stop in London for a sold out Brixton show.
Support came from Liverpudlian four-piece Clean Cut Kid, whose youthful and upbeat set spread a positive vibe across the room. To heat up the crowd in the interval before their set, Courteeners picked their idols Oasis. Massive sing-alongs from the Manchester legends set up the applicable tone for the main set. The crowd greeted the band enthusiastically, chanting before they hit the stage.
The four-piece opened their headline show with fan-favourite Are You In Love With A Notion. Modern Love and Lucifer's Dreams were received with just as much excitement as older favourites such as Lose Control and Bide Your Time. A good mixture of old tracks and new material kept fans on their toes.
Halfway through the set, a huge disco ball slid down from the ceiling, lighting up the room for the romantic Take Over The World and Small Bones with inviting lyrics "She is asking me to dance", during which the venue saw a lot of friendly, loved-up hugs and kisses.
Casually outspoken frontman Liam Fray thanked the cheerful crowd for the great reception and years of support. He then proceeded with a little speech about struggling with acceptance at school introducing De La Salle. String-laden on the record, acoustically the song sounded even more straightforward and charming.
Debuting anthemic No One Will Ever Replace Us and poetic The 17th from 'Mapping The Rendezvous' in London dressed in neat and tidy white shirt, Liam preferred not to move much around the stage, but his distinctive vocals were quite enough to fill up the room.
True surprise of the evening was an acoustic cover of Pulp's nostalgic Disco 2000. Cocker's lyrics "Won't it be strange when we're all fully grown" seemed especially relatable looking at bearded and mature Fray. With gentle disco ball swing, the song evolved into Courteener's own classic Please Don't from their debut record.
Fray and co wisely chose to close their set with ultimate singalongs Not Nineteen Forever and What Took You So Long, all 5 thousand audience was singing them back louder than the band, ending up in a crowd embrace.
Since 2008 debut 'St. Jude', Courteeners have been getting bigger and bigger, though managed to stay just as frank and honest, sticking to their signature theme of love, not Shakespearean, but unsophisticated and relatable. Earning a cult-like following over the years, Courteeners proved themselves as masterful indie hit makers, and at Brixton Academy all the expectations from the four-piece were met: the audience was presented with everything you'd want from the Courteeners and a good Saturday night out.
The indie rockers will now proceed with the UK tour, and fans are especially excited to see their huge 50,000-capacity homecoming gig at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester on 27th May 2017, where they will be supported by fellow Mancunians The Charlatans and Blossoms.
