Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Travis at The O2 Academy
Image Credit: @jamie_macmillan_photos
Kicking off their Raze The Bar tour at the O2 Academy in Leeds on Thursday 5th December, Jess Cooper reflects on Travis’ intimate, charismatic performance, proving that theatrics are not the be all and end all of pop music.
Opening for the band was an act that felt like an amalgamation of everything grand about British rock history. Hamish Hawk cracked open the crowd with a resounding heavy bass that felt underpinned with an infectious moodiness. It was hard not to see the clear inspirations drawn from across pop history; Morrissey lyrics were peppered with synths of the Pet Shop Boys and the occasional Queen riff. Standouts included ‘Nancy Dearest’ and ‘The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion, 1973’ and their set ended with an explosive, cathartic dance break of sorts where Hawk secured himself as a powerhouse performer.
When nine o’clock hit, Travis strolled onto the pitch-black stage and I proceeded to experience the strangest musical whiplash of my life. Out of the speakers blared the theme tune for sitcom classic ‘Cheers’. “Sometimes you wanna go/Where everybody knows your name/And they’re always glad you came” sung out across the Academy. I genuinely sat in a crowd full of people I didn’t know and laughed out loud. It immediately set that tone that we would be watching a group of lads who didn’t take themselves too seriously; they were building a joke that we would be in on.
They were building on an energy that the crowd had carried through into the venue with them. Outside, the queue was full of banter and chatter. I was standing in front of two boys who were in a seemingly deep conversation about how the Labour party is contributing to climate change by letting farmers keep too many cows. Travis obviously knew who their target audience were and played into their hands amazingly. There were many self-aware remarks about how their new music may feel like a slog to long-time fans and thanking them for their patience in such a self-deprecating but genuine way that you couldn’t help but forgive them.
It was when the group opened up the vault and dust off some classics that you could really feel them come alive. ‘Good Feeling’ radiated that youthful angst of pent-up twenty-something boys. ‘Closer’ was an emotional tribute to loved ones, dripping with sentimentality. As the show delightfully took its time, the set felt breezy; the boys made the adventure through their discography appear effortless. Fan-favourite tune ‘Sing’ acted as a conclusion for this light, easy half of the set, with the stage lit up in neon pinks and purples.
The energy was kicked up a gear as ‘Gaslight’ brought us into that second act of the musical journey. Flashing lyrics on the minimal set and teeming with rockstar energy, ‘Gaslight’ felt like a turning point in the show. It started to feel like Travis were no longer performing their own music, but they were simply appreciating the art. There’s something that lead singer Fran Healy said at this point of the show that has stuck with me since: “Where music really exists, is in this room right now.” Not on streaming platforms, not on social media, but in the real-world venues where thousands of strangers are able to connect with music written and sung by the few artists who dare to put themselves out there.
This vein carried on throughout the show, all the way through to the encore. The group came back out and sung an acoustic rendition of Britney Spears’ ‘…Baby One More Time’ before pulling out their so called ‘party trick’ for one of their classics. Whilst playing joyful ‘Flowers in the Window’ the foursome pulled a stunt that quite frankly I’d expect from fourteen-year-old boys, which is why it was so endearing. Healy let go of his guitar, letting his three other band mates play the instrument for him whilst it was strapped to him. That playful silliness was exactly what made the night feel so charismatic and so different to today’s standard gig or concert. You expect to be impressed by fantastical sets, or intricately choreographed dance routines and here I was, quite frankly stunned at four grown men all playing the same guitar together after they’d drunk a couple of ciders.
Closing out with singalong ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me?’, the band encouraged all of the older fans to jump up and down, inviting them to ‘relive their youth’. It was a let-loose moment that felt like such a perfect encapsulation of Travis’s music and performance style. It was truly phenomenal to just see four lads on stage, strumming the same chords they did twenty years ago with the exact same boyish charm, proving that you don’t need dramatics to put on an engaging performance. You only need a bit of magic.
Words by Jess Cooper.
