Away from their northern haven, the Manchester Indie band manage to rattle through a 90 minute set without leaving any disappointment. Touring their fifth album ‘Mapping The Rendezvous’ the four piece band strutted on stage to 5000 fans chanting ‘What took you so long’ one of their big hits, before breaking into the well known ‘why are you so in love with the notion’. The crowd could not be more excited due to the amount of moshpits and screaming fans all shouting along with the outspoken front man Liam fray.
The atmosphere is sweaty, boozy and boisterous, encouraged by Fray’s macho ‘let’s be having you’ attitude on-stage. “Good evening Brixton,” he calls out, before launching into new track ‘Modern Love,’ which is equally joyously received. As I am lucky enough to have seen the band many of times back in the home town I knew what a treat I was in for, The Courteeners never fail to give a chaotic, spontaneous set proven by the surprising acoustic performance of Pulps ‘Disco 2000’. He even finds time to slip an acoustic version of rare B-Side ‘Smiths Disco’ into the set at the request of a fan in the front row. Through out the gig Fray struggles to make himself heard over the cacophony of chanting and shouting from the audience. Closing out the set with rip-roaring renditions of their breakthrough singles ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and ‘What Took You So Long,’ Fray heads down the front to pose for photos and express his gratitude to the fans, before heading off.
