Thirty was a tricky age. No longer young, but not really old either. And in my case still a bit of a knobhead, regardless of age. So 30 was celebrated, but with the brakes on, so to speak. Tonight, celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Bluetones’ ‘Expecting to Fly’ feels similar. All those years on, happy and excited to be here, only now with the stabilisers of middle age as well as the brakes on. Thankfully though, The Bluetones have a happy knack of making everything feel better.
Regular ‘Tones fans will be familiar with tonight’s support, The Loose Cut. Leeds lads who come to the table with a nice portion of indie that walks the line between pop and rock. With a set that kicks things off with ‘Last All Night’ and also gives us the singalong of ‘Round and Around’ there are definite early Police vibes here – it’s ok lads, Sting was still cool then – and there’s plenty to enjoy. Highlight of the night from Meanwood’s finest though is definitely the heavier ‘Haunt’ with the band rocking out and giving an excellent account of themselves. Hopefully there’s new material in the offing next year.
But it’s The Bluetones that we’re here to shuffle along to and so it’s as lovely as ever when they take the stage and my face adopts a grin that’s never far away for the next hour and a half or so. Because that’s what this band give us; just a lovely relaxed and happy feeling as we mix nostalgia with some cracking tunes and the same four lads we’ve been following faithfully for the last three decades.
Usually with a review I’d write about the songs as they happen but tonight it seems a bit pointless. The ever affable Mark Morriss reminds us that we’re here to listen to ‘Expecting to Fly’ and I’m sure you, dear reader, know the running order as well as the rest of us indie pop nerds.
What’s abundantly evident tonight is that The Bluetones are in fine fettle. The tunes sound as brilliant as they ever did, but special mention for me must go to the blistering versions of ‘Things Change’ and ‘Carnt Be Trusted’ both of which have this particular fan throwing one or two shapes that might well have last been seen at least a decade ago. And talking about throwing shapes, it seems that the ‘Mark Morriss Shuffle’ is in full effect tonight. Yes, he has a few between flight case water breaks, but Mr Morriss is largely out there evoking the Jackson Five with some of tonight’s moves. A pleasure to behold, as always!
There’s a point in the set where I have a distinct feeling like I’m in my 20s again, which probably isn’t that difficult to imagine given the tunes and the memories that will undoubtedly be evoked for a large proportion of tonight’s middle aged audience. And it’s a nice, warm feeling remembering a time when I believed I had more than enough to take on the world. But then I’m brought back down to Earth by the realisation that after a day in a classroom – as well as the fact that I’m well into my 50s – my feel are killing and my back hurts. It’s also well past 9pm, usually ‘telly time’ in our house, but I’ll have to just grit my teeth and keep on singing and dancing. The world and the telly can wait.
As we get towards the end of the set Mark dedicates ‘A Parting Gesture’ to the people who only had the album on a C90, as it would cut out halfway through the song. This is a weird coincidence as we were only talking about this very thing this week, Mrs C confessing that she hardly knew ‘Time and Again’ because the tape in her car would run out! Ever the gentleman, I try to point her out, but no one on stage notices and her moment in the spotlight is gone before it has a chance to happen!
Hearing ‘Expecting to Fly’ being played out again has been as wonderful as expected, but in a way it’s the encore that kind of steals the show tonight. Firstly, we’re treated to two B-sides in ‘String Along’ and ‘The Devil Behind My Smile’ and I can’t be the only one who hasn’t heard them in a little while. ‘String Along’ is particularly excellent and while both test my already terrible knowledge of lyrics – did I mention that I’m in my 50s – it’s fantastic to hear them.
We also get a second mention of the legendary Bruno Brookes as Mark lets us know the chart position of ‘ Never Going Nowhere’ – a Top 40 smash…at number 40 in the Hit Parade! Disappointingly for our frontman, there’s no cheer for that fact, but we’ll come back to that.
It’s the aforementioned tune that manages to add a little unexpected drama to the set too. For starters, with the song about a minute from its end, a strange noise enters the fray. It’s the fire alarm and it’s giving a new meaning to the word remix, chiming along as it is in perfect time with Eds’ drums. For a few seconds we lose power and the band stop. Mark tells us that they may have to leave the stage, but then we get the power back and we can carry on. This time, the chart position gets a resounding cheer and then we get another go at ‘Never Going Nowhere’ which now in its entirety features Mark adding lyrics from *takes deep breath* ‘Private Dancer’, ‘The Power of Love’ and ‘Bring the Noise’. Oh, the versatility of the these boys!
But that’s not even the end of the ‘Never Going Nowhere’ tale because just when you were wondering if Mark had been possessed by Elvis tonight – usually during ‘Carnt Be Trusted’ – the King ‘appears’ and takes over the end of the song. A bit late, but still, nice of him to put in an appearance.
As these things have a habit of doing, it all ends with ‘If’ and a great big joyful singalong. Tonight has flown by, as have those thirty years. But let’s hope that there are many more to come!
