Teenage Fanclub played Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen 15.09.21
For a band that had gigged regularly for over 30 yrs, a 2 yr hiatus must’ve seemed like an eternity. Two recent sell-out gigs in England set them up for the home coming Scottish dates nicely and were enough to shake off any doubt or apprehension that the new album would not be as well received as it was the bands first new material since founding member Gerry Love had decided to leave the band. The venue change might have been a concern as the public reluctance to return to normality may have affected sales in Scotland, but as England had shown by the sell out gigs, the band were certainly still in demand. The Beach Ballroom was a great venue for their return to Aberdeen as the band hadn’t been there since ’89.
Poster Paints are a collaboration of two of Glasgow’s finest musicians. Carla J. Easton and Simon Liddell are a tour de force and are only one gig in!
Aberdeen is the venue for only their second gig and they feature as a full band line up. What started as a remote collaboration has come full circle and they are the perfect opener for Teenage Fanclub. The influences are transparent but the outcome greater than the sum of their parts. There’s a confidence and maturity to the sound as Carla’s vocals sit nicely above the twin guitars and thumping signature floor. The bass underpins everything and keeps it all in place.
The audience have turned out in numbers which demonstrates an eagerness to experience not only live music again after all this time, but the possibility of seeing a band at is inception.
Carla and Simon are certainly no strangers to the stage as their other collaborations (Teen Canteen / Frightened rabbit) have produced some wonderful music but Poster Paints demonstrate a strength in depth with their two singles “Never Saw It Coming” and “Number 1”.
https://www.facebook.com/posterpaintsband
Having been one of the main stays in the indie scene, and still a major song writing force, “The Fannies” breezed on stage like it was their twentieth night and not just their second of this run of Scottish dates. Staring at the anonymous audience (due to masks) but they made their presence felt.
Norman Blake was beaming as he struck the opening chords and the band never looked back as they mixed some old and new material and blended those timeless tunes with the new songs from their latest release “Endless Arcade”.
All the frustrations of not being able to tour the new album upon it’s release faded away as the band opened the set with the first track from the new album, “Home”. In many ways, Teenage Fanclub are the perfect return to gigging band. Easy on the ear, familiar and re-assuring. With the uncertainty of the past 18 months, the band instantly bring the feel good factor back to live music and the crowd must’ve felt like they were “Home”. The familiarity continued with “About You” and “Start Again” as it flowed out of the warm sounding PA. The new album featured strongly in the set as the band slotted 7 songs into their performance.
The band sounded immaculate all night and the mixture of old and new was well received. Although the new songs were written before the pandemic, they do reflect the times we are in and the dark subject matter did not detract as the jangly, rich dense chords had an immersive quality. The new songs written after Gerry love’s departure seem to have invigorated the band and with the prospect of a European tour on the horizon in 2022, the band are already back in the groove. Norman recalls the band’s first visit to Aberdeen in ’89 and someone from the crowd shouts, “It was snowing”. After the brief hilarity, the band play the title track “Endless Arcade” from the album of the same name, followed by “In Our Dreams” and bring a run of new songs to a summation before the bands 1997 album “Songs from Northern Britain” features three of their timeless classics.
The main set draws to a close with “The Concept” but it’s not long before they grace the stage again for an encore as they continue with “The Fall” and the final song off the new album “The Sun Won’t Shine”. The crowd showed their ultimate appreciation as “Everything Flows” ended an endearing performance. With the recent resurgence of vinyl, and the bands re-release of their Geffen albums, the new album and tour have come at the right time to bring them back into the forefront. The rich guitars and complimentary harmonies have never really gone out of fashion and the audience proved it as no one left early and they all stayed to show their appreciation.
https://www.facebook.com/teenagefanclub.music
https://www.teenagefanclub.com
2022
Apr 08, 2022 – Sheffield, UK – Leadmill
Apr 09, 2022 – Leeds, UK – Beckett’s
Apr 10, 2022 – Nottingham, UK – Rock City
Apr 12, 2022 – Birmingham, UK – Institute
Apr 13, 2022 – Norwich, UK – Waterfront
Apr 14, 2022 – Bath, UK – Komedia
Apr 16, 2022 – Brighton, UK – Chalk
Apr 17, 2022 – Portsmouth, UK – Wedgewood Rooms
Apr 20, 2022 – Belfast, UK – Empire Music Hall
Apr 21, 2022 – Dublin, IE – Academy
Apr 23, 2022 – Gothenburg, SE – Pustervik
Apr 24, 2022 – Oslo, NO – Vulkan
Apr 25, 2022 – Copenhagen, DK – Pumpehuset
Apr 27, 2022 – Hamburg, DE – Knust
Apr 28, 2022 – Berlin, DE – Columbia Theater
Apr 29, 2022 – Dusseldorf, DE – Zakk
May 01, 2022 – Munich, DE – Strom
May 02, 2022 – Mannheim, DE – Alte Feuerwache
May 04, 2022 – Lyon, FR – Épicerie Moderne
May 05, 2022 – Nantes, FR – Stereolux
May 06, 2022 – Rouen, FR – Le 106
May 07, 2022 – Paris, FR – La Gaîté Lyrique
May 08, 2022 – Eindhoven, NL – Effenaar
May 09, 2022 – Utrecht, NL – De Helling
Sep 16 – 17 2022 – Visor Fest, Benidorm, Spain
