The Week That Was

When I entered the White Rooms the other night to watch local heroes The Week That Was, something just didn’t feel right, like I was an outsider. Then it dawned on me that possibly everybody who has been in a Sunderland band in the last five years was in attendance tonight.

The odd Futurehead here, various members of Field Music there, is that the Golden Virgins coming in towards the end of the gig? Of course it is.

What should have been a momentous hometown gig for Peter Brewis and the rest TWTW before they go on a North American tour, actually just felt a bit flat.

Speaking after the gig Peter mentions how tonight “was meant to be a warm up gig, more of a confidence builder. The idea was just to play in front of our mates and try and relax a bit.” It is here where the tonight’s problems lay. It was obvious they weren’t trying to win over new fans, just knock out a few songs for old time sake with some old friends.

When the biggest cheer of the night came at the end when they started covering the Futureheads, you get and idea about what this night was about. It also troubling when the main act gets overshadowed by the supporting act BEAK, the best bird orientated instrumentalist band I’ve ever heard.

That’s not to say it was an awful gig, favourites The Good Life and should-be-a-hit Airport Line sounded great and lifted the crowd, even if the latter suffered from the classic case of sounding grand and epic on record but unable to transfer the sweeping orchestral melodies to the live stage.

TWTW are possibly more of an albums band anyway. Peter even explains how “records are the thing I love; you can really create your own little world and are not bound like conventions like you are when playing live.” So this may not be definite TWTW it feels like a wasted opportunity to show why them and the other Field Music projects are seen in such high regard.