| Product: |
Wheatus - Live |
| Date: |
21/06/02 (98 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: great band, interactions with the fans
Disadvantages: none
7.30 pm, 20th July 2002, City Hall in Salisbury. The last date on Wheatus's current tour of the UK.
Venue:
It was quite easy to find, but it was quite small and surprisingly they hadn’t really planned for queues so the system was a bit confused. But we got in and went into the main hall. Some venues e.g. Brixton Academy have a slanted floor so that you can see the band even if you’re near the back. City Hall was just a flat floor, and this was quite annoying since it was very hard to see the band. We were about 3 metres from the stage, yet we had a couple of tall people in front of us so we had to jump up to catch a decent glimpse of the band. There were about 1500 people, and although it wasn’t too cramped you got your toes stamped on quite frequently. The security was quite good, and they handed out cups of water occasionally, but this was only good if you were near the front. And if you were near the front you also got soaked with buckets of water being thrown by the security men. But then again it was so hot in the hall that everyone was soaked already. The sound wasn’t that great in the hall, it wasn’t really suited to live bands like Wheatus. But they sounded pretty good anyway. They were selling merchandise, the prices weren’t too high but were for the richer/really devoted fans, I settled for a Wheatus comic book with a free poster for a total of £3.
The Band:
Wheatus, a four-piece band from Long Island, New York. Brendan Brown is the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter. Mike McCabe has replaced Rich Leigey on bass (Rich Leigey did bass on the album). Peter Brown (Brendan’s younger brother) was on drums and keyboards by Phil Jimenez, who also does percussion on their records.
Website: www.Wheatus.com
The Support Act:
Halo. I’d never heard of them before, they haven’t really broken into the mainstream yet, although their first single ‘Sanctimonious&
#8217; got to number 44 in the charts. There were a few people who were obviously big Halo fans. They were pretty good, more rock than Wheatus, more noise but distinguishable noise unlike some bands (Dillinger Escape Plan). They played about 6 or 7 songs and the crowd warmed to them as they played. It was a decent start to the gig, they are a pretty talented bunch, just don’t compare them to Muse! For anyone who’s interested, they are playing T in the Park, Ashton Court Festival in Bristol and V2002 this year.
Website: www.halomusic.com
The Gig:
We had to wait 40 minutes for Wheatus to come on, which wasn’t too bad but was a bit too long to wait. When they came on they were really enthusiastic, especially Brendan. Throughout the gig he had nothing but compliments for Salisbury, after trying their fish and chips. They also offered to play every night at Salisbury but they said people at home would probably miss them.
Wheatus opened up with Truffles, the first track off their album. Since it was the first time I had been to see Wheatus, I wasn’t sure how good they would be live, but I didn’t need to worry because they were fantastic. They do a lot of touring, and it was good because they change some of the songs a little bit, to make it more interesting for the fans. Truffles was a good opening, most people knew it and when the chorus kicked in the whole crow just started jumping up and down. When they played Sunshine, the second track off the album, I was beginning to think that they might just be going through the album list and then playing some new material, but they did mix the new tracks in with the album stuff. Sunshine is probably my favourite track off the album, It has a rhythmic bass, and a Scottish jig melody in parts. The lyrics are also great and totally original, “There’s a rocket I built, It’s under my kilt, It’s coming to blow you away”. Once again the crowd reall
y enjoyed the track.
After this I can’t remember the song order so I’m going to randomly pick them. They played about five new tracks, including American in Amsterdam, Follow the Leader, Fairweather Friend and Anyone. As with most bands’ new material, it wasn’t as popular as the familiar tracks, and they didn’t seem as dynamic as the other tracks. But they still got a good reception and it was obvious that Wheatus haven’t lost their talent for good upbeat songs.
Hump’Em N Dump’Em was a highlight of the evening. Halfway through the song, Brendan added a little verse to it that didn’t really fit with the rest of the song but it was good anyway. Brendan really put a lot into this song, and I don’t think there was a single person not bouncing along.
The songs that tell a story were the ones that the crowd really liked. Especially the bitter-tinged ones. Hey Mr Brown and Punk Ass Bitch were crowd pleasers, the band seemed to enjoy playing them and there was a lot of energy on stage. I think there were a few people who had just heard the Wheatus singles, because there were a lot more people singing the singles than other tracks off the album. Leroy got a big cheer, and when Brendan let the crowd sing the chorus it was audible.
A Little Respect was announced as the newly renamed Stonehenge. By this point the band were still going strong, and so was the crowd. The people in the crowd drowned out the backing singers, it was a very popular song, and it sounded as fresh as when they first released it.
I think everyone was surprised when the band walked off the stage without playing THAT song. As soon as they disappeared, the crowd just started shouting, and there was deafening stomping. But the band bounced back on for an encore, Brendan grinning like a Cheshire cat. They then proceeded to play Teenage Dirtbag for 10 minutes, stopping to let some of the crowd on the sta
ge and take a picture of the hall. But after playing Teenage Dirtbag, the band disappeared from the stage forever, but the cheering and applause carried on for a good five minutes, showing how good the band were.
Conclusion:
Wheatus are probably one of the best bands to go and see live in my opinion. They are really enthusiastic, they interact with the crowd and they know how to play live. They played for 1hr 17minutes (I timed it), they played most of the tracks off their album but also introduced some of their new material so it was freah for the audience. Brendan’s high voice was note perfect almost all the time, and he sung and played guitar really well. Mike was really good, as well as playing bass he ran around the stage a lot, stripped to the applause of the crowd (only his top half ladies) and blew kisses frequently, the sweetie. Peter and Phil were behind drums and keyboards respectively, they didn’t really interact with the crowd but did a really good job, and the drums really kept the songs going. Brendan is a good frontman, he did the most with the crowd, including running through the audience and thanking people for the items thrown on the stage (including a Bill from the Flowerpot Men, although he didn’t recognise it). But he did complain about it being too hot, then changed into shorts, while the crowd stood soaking in sweat/water/beer. He threw a towel out three times, once I managed to get hold of one but a girl and her too-strong boyfriend wrenched it away. Brendan also tried to get the feamle members of the crowd to shake their 'tush' for their new song Freak On, but not many seemed to be doing it. He seemed genuinely concerned for the crowd’s wellbeing, asking everyone to mind the little kids at the front. The audience was quite varied, from six-year-olds to about sixty-year-olds.
Wheatus are great to see live, they enjoy what they do and are very enthusiastic about their music and their fa
ns. If you are already a fan of their music, I would highly recommend going to one of their gigs, I think they’re playing in the UK later this year. They tend to play the smaller venues, this makes their gigs more intimate and the atmosphere is better. They are a very friendly band, and funny as well. Their sound is individual and worth listening to if you need to be cheered up or just want decent music to jump up and down to. Definitely worth the ticket price.
Summary:
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Last comment:
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wicked_witch - 22/06/02 OOOOOOOOOOOOH Lord I hate this band. Great op though! |
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