Travis arrived onstage with the theme tune from classic sitcom Cheers as an accompaniment. The cavernous OVO Hydro might not be a place where everyone knows your name, but a Glasgow homecoming by local lads made good certainly tapped into a festive vibe of friends and familiarity, with singer Fran Healy making ample reference to the group’s roots during their set.
That fondness for the quartet is partly why they were able to play such a large venue to begin with, given the rest of their tour visited more compact, if still decently sized, buildings. Of course, the group’s late 90s and early 2000s heyday saw them tackle arenas regularly, so it wasn’t a surprise they were unfazed by the prospect, nor that a decent chunk of the set lifted material from that successful era’s albums, The Man Who and The Invisible Band.
What did surprise was the shaky sound, particularly early on. There was a noticeable echo on Neil Primrose’s drumming, while the guitar of Andy Dunlop was buried in the mix, meaning his guitar heroics on old favourite “Driftwood” never really soared. It was too flat too often, with “Good Feeling” timid and plaintive newbie “Naked in New York” so pared back it failed to register.
Equally curious was a boxy stage set-up, with the band bunched together as if playing inside a Christmas present. It didn’t work well inside an arena, as it essentially cut off part of the stage and made it harder to see the four-piece if you were down the sides.
This was highlighted during a cover of “Mull of Kintyre” which flashed lyrics on screen to sing along to – except they were hard to actually see. The less said of that encore surprise the better, as despite bagpipers and support acts joining in it swiftly descended into a ramshackle mess reminiscent of drunken karaoke at a works Christmas party.
Material from the group’s latest offering LA Times fared better, thankfully. If “Bus” was a mellow, West Coast pop opener to the night then “Raze the Bar” had a soulful Gospel tinge, and “Gaslight” delivered a spikey flip off to an ex-partner. It was one of two tracks Healy, with glasses and a shock of orange hair, described colourfully as being about ex-partners. Never shy of an onstage anecdote or two, he remains an engaging, occasionally rambling frontman, sitting on the knee of a roadie dressed as Santa one minute and then appealing for fans to back foodbank charities the next.
His voice was in good fettle, and even when his train of thought detoured there was never any danger of losing a crowd buoyed by Christmas cheer. Of the old stalwarts a crunchy “Turn” closed the main set with the guitars thankfully turned back up, “Side” buzzed with cheerful, hummable energy, and “Closer” was filled with easy-going pep.
Yet it was predictable, heavy on the same songs from past albums that are present and correct on every tour with no deep cuts, and punchless too often. “Why Does It Always Rain on Me” provided an inevitably stirring sing-a-long finale, but as various Santa hat wearing fans sang along you wished the bag of presents delivered here hadn’t been so mixed.
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