Travis, Shepherd's Bush Empire, 31-10-99


I've finally got some chance to breathe again after the Travis date on Sunday, so here's 
my take on it while it's still fresh...

We arrived only a few minutes before Remy Zero took the stage due to some miscalculations 
on tube times, but we luckily got to see RZ's full set. The stage was decked out in 10 
blinking jack-o-lanterns, which we decided was one for each of the members of the two 
bands, and even when all the lights were out, the pumpkins were still flickering and made
 for some very cool (and festive!) effects.

Remy Zero came out in costume and played a blinder of a set. I'd only heard about two 
songs of their before, but I was impressed enough that I went out and bought their album
 the next day. Very, very good American indie. I can't even describe the sound, but the 
singer's got an amazing voice. They were a very appropriate opener for Travis, though, 
and from the tour diary on the official Travis page, it seems the bands have been getting
 on famously, as well. 

After a very efficient set change, Travis came on -- uncostumed -- and played for about
 an hour and a half. They played every song off The Man Who, and a good many off of Good
 Feeling, with the noteable exception of U16 Girls. I've no clue why they dropped this 
one from the set, but I was so happy with the rest of the concert that I didn't realise 
it was missing until the next day.

If there's any doubts about the quality of Travis, they'd definitely be disspelled if 
you'd have seen them live. They were so tight on stage, they were having so much fun 
talking with the audience and carrying on onstage, and Fran's voice was gorgeous. He 
was hitting some high notes I wouldn't expect most female singers to do. And one of the 
best, warmest, fuzziest moments was during Slide Show, when they insisted that ALL of 
the lights be turned off, and they showed old photos of the band during the song. They 
ranged from baby photos to hilarious grade school shots to ones from when the band was 
just starting out a few years back, but they were really great and the guys were still 
chuckling at each other when particularly bad photos of one of them came up.

In addition to the songs I already mentioned, they gave us the treat of 3 new tracks: 2 
harder ones in the vein of Good Feeling, and one softer, retrospective one about being a 
teenager, which was received well from the 10 year old girls squashed up against the 
railing (but as a compilment to their parents, they were the best behaved 10 year olds
 I'd ever seen. it *could've* been a Backstreet Boys concert, but they were much more 
mature than most of the drunk twats behind me).

As par usual, I got a setlist, and it went like so:

All I Wanna Do Is Rock
Good Feeling
Writing to Reach You
As You Are
Driftwood
Yeah Yeah Yeah   [a new one. I'm assuming there'll be a better title!]
The Fear
Good Day to Die
She's So Strange ?   [maybe the "?" due to the high notes?]
Why Does It Always Rain On Me
Turn
Luv
Coming Around    [another new one]
Slide Show
Blue Flashing Light  [the bonus track from The Man Who]
-----
"20"    [the new one about surviving your teenage years]
Baby One More Time   [the Britney Spears cover!!]
Happy

melissa, who may be in NME soon due to the stream of photos taken of the twats with 
devils horns standing directly in back of her...