Indie heroes Travis appear in Cambridge
The Corn Exchange was full of 30 and 40-somethings enthusiastically reliving their youth on Thursday, December 13.
The first half of the gig saw singer/guitarist Fran Healy, bass player Dougie Payne, lead guitarist Andy Dunlop and drummer Neil Primrose run through their wildly successful second studio album, 1999's The Man Who - now considered one of the best albums in British pop music history - from start to finish.
In between solid songs like Writing to Reach You, The Fear and the 'big three' of Driftwood, Turn and Why Does It Always Rain on Me?, Fran Healy told stories and reflected on stand-out moments from the band's past.
He revealed that track three, As You Are, was one of the first tunes to be written for the album, being penned back in 1994, and recalled that record company executives called the band to an emergency meeting ahead of the record's release, worried that it was "too depressing."
The likeable frontman also noted that he had a really bad cold when he recorded the vocals for Driftwood and remembered how their performance of Why Does It Always Rain on Me? at Glastonbury in 1999 - where the heavens opened - helped the band, until then not quite as well known, reach the next level.
Opening for Oasis on the Manchester band's Be Here Now tour was another memory shared by Fran, who said that they always tried to "blow Oasis off the stage," managing to do so on a couple of occasions.
Needless to say, the songs from The Man Who were raucously celebrated by the energetic crowd, who sang along, put their hands in the air and held their phones aloft, attempting to forever capture in time this pleasing slice of late '90s nostalgia.
After they had finished the album, Fran and co left the stage, returning to play an "extended encore" featuring more of their best-known songs, some of which included Adam Wakeman - son of Rick - on keyboard. The first to include his superb playing was Good Feeling.
Further highlights of this second half were Side, Closer, Flowers in the Window and my personal favourite, Sing. It was great to hear all these glorious melodies played live, although it was ruined a bit by the incessant chatting from some of those around me. Why can't people just be quiet and listen to the music?!
Fran even told a particularly loud audience member who kept shouting out and interrupting him to be quiet, saying that he was talking. This admonishment received a round of applause.
Dougie Payne recently told the Cambridge Independent that Travis helped provide the soundtrack to the "hangover" that followed the Britpop party of the mid-'90s. Judging by the antics of some of last night's revellers, there will be a few nursing hangovers this morning!
