the PIGEON DETECTIVES
LIVE REVIEW
By
Chris Wills
27/05/07
Leeds Town Hall – Sunday
27 May 2007 Support:
Last Gang
After plugging away
on the local scene for
the last few years,
Leeds quintet the Pigeon
Detectives are finally
set to hit the big time.
On the eve of the
release of their debut
album, Wait For Me, I
saw them play the second
of two nights at Leeds
Town Hall.
Leeds Town Hall
dominates the Headrow,
the thoroughfare leading
into the heart of Leeds.
And that heart was
beating loudly tonight,
as thousands gathered to
watch the city’s
brightest pop prospect
of the moment. The
interior of the Town
Hall is highly
impressive, its
architecture a mixture
of Gothic, Renaissance
and Baroque, and viewed
from the balcony, a huge
organ loomed over the
stage, below it a
reproduction of the
Pigeon Detectives album
cover, depicting two
stags locking horns.
A suitably dramatic
backdrop for an
eagerly-anticipated
evening, and it began
with Last Gang, a band
from Wakefield. The band
specialise in energetic,
chord-driven power-pop,
evinced in songs such
Show Me How to Get There
and their debut single
(from last October) Beat
of Blue. Closing number
Love and Hate meanwhile
sounded not dissimilar
to Bloc Party. Last Gang
have got the sort of
tunes to suggest that
their turn in the
limelight may not be far
off – they’ll certainly
have got plenty of
attention tonight. You
can see and hear more of
them at their website,
http://lastgang.co.uk
and at
www.myspace.com/lastganguk.
A
long interval followed,
before the stage was
plunged into darkness,
save for a spotlight on
the steps, and the
thundering opening
chords of Also Sprach
Zarathustra rang out.
However, this turned out
to signal the entrance,
not of the Detectives,
but of a local Elvis
impersonator. Who said
variety was dead? After
he’d kept the audience
happy with a few
favourites, the King
made way for the
princes, as audience
chants of “Yorkshire!
Yorkshire!” became
increasingly fervent.
The Pigeon Detectives’
choice of entrance music
was rather different –
the Joe Meek-produced
1960s classic Telstar by
the Tornadoes. You might
think it an odd choice
to introduce a band who
were all born at least
twenty years after that
record came out, but it
makes total sense – an
almost uncontrollable
release of energy by
young minds brimming
over with music.
“Almost” uncontrollable,
because the set was a
series of controlled
bursts as the band ran
through their tales of
young love and its many
pitfalls with élan.
Romantic Type, their
breakthrough Top 20 hit
from earlier this year,
kicked off proceedings
(and some red footballs
got kicked around the
crowd). Lead singer Matt
Bowman’s trademark
acrobatics nearly got
off to an
unintentionally early
start when he met with a
slippery patch on stage.
Whilst this was cleared
up, the band rattled off
song after song, each
one sounding like a
potential hit.
Matt slowly cranked up
the moves as well as the
excitement, at one point
climbing to the very top
of the speakers to
conduct the audience,
whilst what looked like
a pair of underpants
thrown on stage ended up
on his head. Sooner or
later, the crowd-surfing
had to happen, and sure
enough it happened
during Can’t Control
Myself. However, the
lead singer’s antics
shouldn’t detract from
the tight musicianship
from the rest of the
band. The set ended with
current single I’m Not
Sorry, which had missed
the Top 10 by a whisker
just a few hours before
the gig. There was a
standing ovation for the
Pigeon Detectives from
all those in the balcony
– but no encore, the
band leaving their fans
wanting more, which they
could then get by
purchasing the album
after midnight that
night in a local record
shop.
A year ago, the Pigeon
Detectives were still
little heard-of outside
of the Leeds music
scene, just going to
show how quickly
fortunes can turn
around. From obscurity,
to a support slot with
fans Kaiser Chiefs, to a
big UK and European tour
and a
critically-acclaimed
debut album – it’s been
a rollercoaster ride in
the last few months, and
after tonight there was
a definite feeling that
this ride has only just
begun.
For more on the Pigeon
Detectives, visit their
website at
www.thepigeondetectives.com
or
go to
www.myspace.com/thepigeondetectives
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