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Xfm’s tenth birthday celebrations have been in full swing since August and Razorlight have not been seen in the UK since their headline slots at this years Reading and Leeds Festivals. So it’s a welcoming return following a series of European dates for Johnny Borrell’s men.
Rock star, fashion icon, egotistical twat, what ever you want to call him there’s no disputing the fact that Borrell can hold a crowds attention. He leads the charge once again at the 229 in London armed with Andy Burrows’ powerful precision percussions, Carl Dalemo’s determined bass strikes and Bjorn Argen’s charismatic coolly delivered guitar playing. Draped in a long black suit jacket and sporting a slight gash on his right eye speculation began to emerge amongst the crowd as to the reasoning for the mark. Towards the end of the set Borrell pointed to his ‘scar’ and moaned: “You all see that yeh? I cut myself on my guitar on the way up here, so if I pass out onstage you know why.”
Mass sing-alongs ensued throughout the night, in particular during ‘Golden Touch’ as the band isolated the song to the crowd’s vocals with Borrell orchestrating the rhythm of the claps. Other highlights included performances of the bands number one single ‘America’, energetic ‘Back To The Start’ and an impromptu jam following ‘Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got’. Borrell thanked the typically enthusiastic crowd for coming and donating to Anno’s Africa (money was collected on entry to the venue) and dedicated the evening to some former friends of his. He told the crowd “When I was about 20, two guys I knew were in a band and they had a car crash. I’m lucky enough to play music for a living.” He then took a look to the ceiling and added “I don’t know where they are now,” before crashing into ‘Somewhere Else’.
After a short break, Borrell returned to the stage to perform a solo version of ‘Fall Fall Fall’. Unfortunately there was no preview of new material as the set and the night then climaxed with an explosive rendition of ‘Vice’, ensuring xfm had a birthday treat they wouldn’t easily forget.
The full setlist was as follows:
In The Morning
Hold On
Golden Touch
Back To The Start
America
Fall To Pieces
In The City
Los Angeles Waltz
Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got
Somewhere Else
*****
Fall Fall Fall
Vice
