ELBOW AND AIR TRAFFIC - ST. ANDREWS WESLEY CHURCH VANCOUVER REVIEW:











I had the great pleasure of seeing ''Elbow' and 'Air Traffic' live in concert at a beautiful old church in downtown Vancouver last night. Things got started a bit late but Air Traffic didn't disappoint and played a good set of tracks mostly from their debut cd 'Fractured Life'. These young guys can play (especially bass player Jim Maddock) and the crowd seemed to get into them considering most of them had probably never heard of them before. The band certainly have the talent and energy to rival some of their contemporaries like 'The Arctic Monkeys' and 'Hard-Fi'. Highlights included 'Come On', 'Never Even Told Me Her Name', 'No More Running Away' and 'Shooting Star' that closed their set (and was written for/about someone who lives in Vancouver who was in attendance according to lead singer Chris Wall). I had downloaded their album but when I saw it for sale for $10 I decided to pick it up and got it signed by everyone but the drummer from the band who were out in the lobby after their set.

I have a couple of Elbow cds but have never been a massive fan for some reason (I picked up their latest cd 'The Seldom Seen Kid' also for $10, all bands should sell their cds for this reasonable price). The band were pretty amazing and I definitely see why they have a lot of fans and wonder why they haven't become huge (could be because they don't have the typical rock star look). Lead singer Guy Garvey had some great stories from his days as an alter boy and he seemed truly honoured to have the band playing in this church. Highlights would have to be the new track 'Mirrorball', and their performance of "Newborn' ranks up there as one of the best concert performances I have ever seen. If you aren't familiar with the band do check out the two above mentioned songs. It was a great concert and the only unfortunate thing was that they didn't come out for an encore (which was probably due to local noise bylaw restrictions as the church is in a residential area).

Imogen Heap has a new video blog (#23) where she plays some of a new song titled 'A-ha' which sounds promising. She doesn't mention anything about her walk with Jeff Goldblum, good for her to keep her personal life personal.

SETLIST:

Air Traffic 8:05 - 8:35 pm

Never Even Told Me Her Name
Time Goes By
Come On
I Can't Understand
Charlotte
Take Your Hands Off Me
No More Running Away
Shooting Star

Elbow 9:15 - 10:40 pm

Starlings
The Bones Of You
Leaders Of The Free World
Great Expectations
Mirrorball
Grounds For Divorce
The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver
The Stops
Switching Off
Newborn
One Day Like This
Station Approach
Scattered Black & Whites

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