The Pigeon Detectives - Brixton Academy, London - Friday 6th June 2008

For the third time this year, I spent the evening in the company of the Pigeon Detectives. Having seen them a number of times before now (and always coming away entertained by their excellent live show), I very much knew what to expect here. Stepping up to Brixton Academy is always a big move for an up and coming indie band, but the fact that they headlined 2 huge homecoming dates in Leeds only a month ago, suggests that they have already done bigger and better than this.

On arrival in Brixton, it was noticeable how few touts there were on the streets - I think I only saw one all night. After a joyous few minutes where I thought they may have all been killed (or given up touting), I realised that it was probably because they were all at Wembley Stadium for the Foo Fighters gig instead. It generally seemed much quieter than for a normal Brixton gig - maybe all the locals had gone to Wembley too. Getting into, and getting a beer in the venue was also pretty easy - this was definitely one of those "sold out" Brixton gigs that feels quite spacious. There were probably only a couple of hundred people "missing", but it always makes the place seem that much emptier, and I must say, more pleasant. You can still jump around in a packed moshpit at the front if you want to, but there is space to be found too if you want it. Most civilised.

In recent Pigeon Detectives gigs I have been to, I've written about a second album that sounds like a very promising sign for this summer's festivals; the occasional dulling of singer Matt Bowman's craziness on stage; and of the gradual increase in the number of total idiots in the audience at Pigeons shows - a fate which has of course also affected Kasabian, Kaiser Chiefs and The Enemy recently, and Oasis much less recently. This gig featured all of these themes again. The band bounded on stage to a very loud background of The Who's Baba O'Riley, and got things moving immediately by playing last single This Is An Emergency. Their performance was very tight, almost choreographed to those that have seen it before, but still managing to appear spontaneous to the untrained eye.

Matt Bowman was in the crowd and generally somewhat less manic than I have seen him before, but this is Brixton - seeing the band can be difficult enough in such a big venue, so maybe it was best that he stayed on stage. The set ripped along and seemed to be over in no time at all - at just over an hour, it wasn't the longest of Brixton sets, but was very enjoyable, which seemed to make it all pass by quicker. The idiots were out in force throughout the venue (there seemed to be a particularly large "oi oi saveloy" contingent at this show - maybe they were warming up for V Festival in Chelmsford), but even that couldn't detract from the Pigeons songs and show.

All in all, a very good show, and the Pigeons are now off to play probably every festival under the sun. They should get a good reaction to their new songs, which have hit the mainstream just in time for the festivals. I will probably head for one of their sets at Glastonbury, although I must admit now to being slightly overdosed on them - maybe you can have a bit too much of a good thing.