Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: Orpheum, Graz, Austria
Concert date: 31.03.2009
Attendance: 500
Ticket price: €20
This was no April Fools’ joke. This was The Subways. It’s a trio with the charismatic Billy Lunn calling the shots at the mic and on guitar, the charming Charlotte Cooper working the bass strings, and the drums left in the hands of the mischievous Josh Morgan. You could also call them the “cold cousins” of those slightly older American garage party animals Eagles of Death Metal, led by Jesse Hughes. The two guys and a girl released their second studio album, “All or Nothing”, at the start of last July, and as part of the promo tour they stopped by neighboring Graz.
Local pop rockers Once Tasted Life had the job of warming up the crowd, and they charged onto the stage with the same zeal we saw at last year’s Summer Breeze festival in Kirchbach. Sadly, though, enthusiasm isn’t everything. The youngsters gathered below the stage did let themselves be steered like marionettes by the band’s tunes, but the guys were playing songs we’ve heard countless times from their debut album “A Thousand Moments We Let Pass”, released way back in 2006. Sadly, for more demanding listeners that just wasn’t enough.
Then came a complete turnaround, as The Subways took the stage, the band NME called “the sexiest thing to happen to rock`n`roll in years“. And they’re right. Billy Lunn, who has unbelievable charisma and an enormous amount of energy, tied the band to the crowd right from the start with the song “Kalifornia”. The girls in the front rows squealed hysterically and stretched out their hands every time Lunn moved closer to the edge. Little Charlotte is admirable too: she’s not still for a second, happily bouncing from one side to the other, even if at times she seems to be running a bit low on fuel. With “Young for Eternity”, from the self-titled debut album released in 2005 on Infectious Records, even the sleepy or slightly pickier souls woke up, the ones who’d spent the Once Tasted Life warm-up counting minutes over a glass of good beer. The first real standout, “Oh Yeah!”, brought a total turnaround of its own. It’s the proper single from that debut, the one that introduced The Subways to the wider music crowd. Hot on its heels came “Alright”, the second single from “All or Nothing”. Unlike the first album (recorded in Liverpool), that one was recorded in Los Angeles, under the baton of the seasoned Butch Vig. He’s best known for his work with the immortal grungers Nirvana, the always fun and rarely serious Jimmy Eat World, and the legendary The Smashing Pumpkins. Lunn’s brief coaxing was followed by an invitation to a tea party at “Mary’s” and a so-called contest to see which side of the Orpheum hall was louder. Left or right? The verdict came after “Shake! Shake!”. Billy and the expert jury, made up of Charlotte and Josh, the kid wildly swinging his drumsticks, had a really tough job. But justice always prevails, and the score, from one to ten, was of course a ten. The crowd proved it truly deserved that score during “I Won`t Let You Down”, which is also on the sophomore effort “All or Nothing”. Compared with “Young for Eternity”, this album sounds a bit harder, most likely a result of the change of producer and recording in the one-time promised land. There’s also a lot more of Charlotte’s girly (backing) vocals in the songs. The Subways closed the first part of the show with “This is the Club For People Who Hate People”, and if you want to join that club, just buy yourself a pin with that cute, slightly sarcastic slogan at the next gig.
Kicking off with “Strawberry Blonde”, which is inked forever on the skin under Lunn’s chest, the evening slowly began winding down. Next came probably the hardest-hitting single, “Girls & Boys”, from “All or Nothing”, whose title illustrates how Billy almost lost his voice. The best always comes last, and with the madness at its peak, it was time for the one and only “Rock`n`roll Queen”. The Subways stretched the song out abnormally long, and Lunn pulled off a spectacular stage dive in the middle of it. Every throat among the roughly five hundred heads in the crowd sang along, as everyone turned into queens and kings of rock`n`roll for the night. That’s the track that carried these young, hungry Brits out into the world, since it’s been used in several TV commercials, video games, and the films “Live Free or Die Hard” and “Rocknrolla”. In the latter, you can even spot the trio during a club performance.
The Subways have proven time and again that they’re an incredibly good band with the formula for success inside them. Hard work always pays off, and there’s no doubt they’ll be big one day, just like The Killers, Oasis, and the rest. You just gotta believe …
Photos: Miha Rekar
Setlist
Once Tasted Life: 1. A Few More Words 2. His Dedication 3. Primetime 4. No Guarantee 5. Interlude 6. One Spectator`s View 7. A New Morning (I`m Still Walking) The Subways: 1. Kalifornia 2. Young For Eternity 3. Holiday 4. Obsession 5. Oh Yeah 6. All or Nothing 7. Alright 8. Mary 9. Always Tomorrow 10. Shake! Shake! 11. I Won`t Let U Down 12. I Want To Hear What You Have Got To Say 13. Turnaround 14. With You 15. This Is The Club For People Who Hate People —– encore —– 16. Strawberry Blonde 17. Girls & Boys 18. Rock`n`roll Queen
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