Whilst on a work trip to Philadelphia, I noticed that the Fratellis were in town. I'm not normally a huge fan of them, and would certainly not go to see a headline show of theirs in London - but the $16 ticket price, plus the fact that I was at a loose end, persuaded me to go. A couple of colleagues came along too, so we had the ingredients for a good evening of beer, food and music. It was the NFL kickoff game that night too, so all of the bars were pretty packed, which added to the fun.We got down to South Street in Philly at around 8pm, to see a big "Sold Out" sign on the venue door - I think this was the first gig I'd been to there (after seeing We Are Scientists and The Hold Steady there previously) that was a sellout. After a couple of beers in nearby bars, we eventually went inside and found a spot at the upstairs bar, and watched the opening band - called Electric Touch. They had an English singer, (with a strange accent - a mix of Scouse, Irish and American), but I think they were based in the US somewhere. The English influence on the band shone through, they played songs which reminded me of The Coral and The Beatles, and indeed they included a version of Come Together in their set. As a band opening up for another British band in the US, they worked really well - not sure that they would go down very well in the UK though, where we have lots of more authentic British artists.
The next band (and main support act) were called Airborne Toxic Event - whilst I could see why they were supporting The Fratellis (they were a decent enough fit with their sound), I didn't really get into their set. Don't get me wrong, they sounded OK, but nothing really jumped out and grabbed my attention during the set. Nothing too bad, but equally nothing that gave any kind of "wow" about them. Nice enough to listen to, but they kind of became like background noise after a few songs into the set.
After all that (and at about 11pm), The Fratellis came on stage, and played a set which drew almost exactly half and half from each of their albums. They played for quite a while as well (an hour and a half, including the encore), which probably means that they played the majority of both albums too. The set was pretty tight, and the band seemed very well practiced in playing it, but then, after a summer of back to back festivals, they probably should be. They had some good banter with the crowd, and seemed to be having a good time on stage. And certainly, they were getting a pretty good reception from the audience, with some big cheers and some serious dancing going on.So, a decent set from The Fratellis - but despite that, I was still a bit underwhelmed. I suppose that, not really liking them all that much, this shouldn't be a surprise - but all this gig did was remind me why I don't like them. Their few good songs (of which Flathead really stands out as a great track) sound brilliant, but there just aren't really that many of them - lots of average stuff amongst the few great tunes. In particular, nothing that I heard from the new album really jumped out at me at all, as something that I'd go and listen to again. A good live band who play their songs well enough, but for me, they just don't have enough decent songs to make them anywhere near a favourite.
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