Wednesday 16/02/05 Rooster, The Famous Last Words @ Academy 2, Manchester

Having told Gigwise that they are a rock band, Rooster continue to be placed in the ‘pop’ bracket, but are working hard to escape it by touring relentlessly.  They’ve gathered a decent following; mainly adolescent girls with accompanying parents, but the student population are catching on as well. 

Tonight’s audience gives a warm welcome to support band The Famous Last Words, a trio of lads who knock out punk-pop-rock.  Their main problem is that their bassist/vocalist has an annoying voice, and songs like ‘Cut Your Hair’ are reminiscent of the quirkier moments of Britpop jesters Space.

Rooster hit the stage without lead man Nick Atkinson at first; a wall of screams eventually meets him.  It’s a heavy start, ‘On The Road’ and ‘Joy Ride’ seeing the crowd bounce as much as the singer, who commands the stage with charisma.  He and guitarist Luke Potashnick are the antithesis of one another, Potashnick letting his playing take the attention while Atkinson doesn’t stop pouting and posing.  Debut track ‘Come Get Some’ is clinical, while non-album song ‘Bulletproof’ gets an appreciated performance.  The first appearance of lighters occurs during ‘Angels Calling’, before a surprisingly early rendition of ‘Staring At The Sun’ – unfortunately ruined by sound problems.  On the positive side, Atkinson proves an able singer, and doesn’t miss a note.

After the ballads the pace is picked up with ‘Drag The Sunrise Down’, a rocky anthem that gets an extended ending. ‘Standing In Line’ passes without much excitement, before an instrumental interlude suspiciously like Jamiroquai’s ‘Deeper Underground’ sets up ‘Platinum Blind’.  Atkinson returns a bra to the audience, who bounce along to the pounding riff, before leading his men off.  They return for a one-song encore, ‘You’re So Right For Me’, but it isn’t the strongest ending to their material. 

Rooster blur the line between rock and pop, with melodic songs finding favour with a wide range of people.  Whilst the debate over what they are continues, they’ll carry on doing what they’re good at – delivering confident live performances.

Photo by CazandStan