Saturday 21st October 06 - Razorlight, The Like and Boy Least Likely To at Hull Ice Arena (1/3) By Michelle Dee

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3).

Photograph Gallery 1, Gallery 2.

It was a blustery night in Hull, as the wind whipped up the dark waters of the Humber and support acts The Like and Boy Least Likely to whipped up the sell out crowd at the Ice Arena. The night started with an impromptu decision to drop in to the Whittington and Cat for a swift drink before joining the ever growing queue for Razorlight's travelling show. The pub seemed to be peopled with those who had hit upon the same idea. I sat down with my drink, and who was sat quietly in the corner opposite? None other than Andy Burrows the Razorlight drummer.

Strangely he wasn't getting mobbed by screaming fans which I would have expected from all the publicity and hype surrounding the band. I glanced over to him he looked back, nothing was said, it was good. Inside the packed out arena after what seemed like an inordinately long wait, the first of the special guest's came on to fire everyone up. the boy least likely to brought us a fun set of acoustically driven, bouncy, upbeat numbers with a melodic country feel.

The Nashville guitars were allied with keys, glockenspiel and an odd wooden instrument which the lead singer proceeded to rap and scrape with fervour.

They sang about rocking on porches, about Aylesbury, their hometown in Buckinghamshire. This one was called Monsters and it described how many of the cats they knew back home had grown up, become responsible and inevitably boring. I particularly enjoyed a line about mother monsters pushing baby monsters in prams. The crowd got behind them, particularly an excitable group at the front, who were singing every line.

Most agreed that the highlight of the set was a feel good number called I'm glad I hitched my apple wagon to your star The song described the boy least likely to's imaginary road trip to the birth place of country music, Nashville Tennessee. The band encouraged the audience to join in the clapping at the start, in the middle, and at the end. There was a whole lot of clapping through out the set and fists raised and punching the air. I noted that the guitarist on the left had a solo pogo moment which was fun. An interesting choice for support act, which built the crowd up, and put smiles on many faces.

The next special guest supporting tonight, were an all girl three piece from the States called The Like. They are a relatively new band but you can tell immediately why they are popular. Spread out, as the three were, so far across the stage, it was hard to see the lead singer from my vantage point of four rows back from the front slightly to the left of the stage. For the most part her long tresses covered her face, but her voice was clear, deep and resonant. Sometimes reminding me of Portishead's Beth Gibbons or Polly Jean other times she strayed into more pop influenced territory.

Continued...... Next Page (2/3)

Photograph Gallery 1, Gallery 2.

Photographs courtsey and Copyright ©  Michelle Dee 2006

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