Not doin' it right.
A Friday night with The Go! Team is an invitation to a party and coming hard on the heels of the release of their new album 'Proof of Youth', everything was set for the band to take the ABC by storm and provide the musical backing that have Europes largest mirrorball spinning with glee. Perhaps the early start time derailed this slightly (the gig finished before 10pm, all in the name of selling booze to drunken kids to 3am) but for one reason or another, it didnt quite pan out that way. The ABC is a strange venue in that it is wide as opposed to being long but there has never been any noticeable problems with the sound system, until The Go! Team rolled into town.
The biggest problem of the night was that it wasnt loud enough and everything was overshadowed by the guitars, which negated the beauty of the bands all-inclusive music policy. The crowd still seemed to be having a great time and the audience participation was high throughout the night but it did seem as though there was something not quite right about the show. Perhaps its unfair examining the gig in comparison with the bands performance at Benicassim but it was like night and day between the sets. Perhaps playing at a festival forced The Go! Team to interact more whereas their own show put them in a more relaxed mode but it didnt seem enough.
There was a lot of faffing about, theres a lot of good about the multi-instruental approach that The Go! Team offers but with band members swapping around, it does create a very stop-start feeling to the night that prevents any great flow or momentum to build up. After every song there appeared to be a gap whilst the next song was queued up or band members repositioned themselves and it did play down the show a bit.
'Doing It Right' is likely to be the song from the new album that will appeal most to those who loved the first record and its a great little number, the high vocals encourage some bad-singalong and the general feel of chirpiness pervades throughout. The new album is a bit of a departure with some slower moments making their way into the set, which on the one hand provides more balance to the evening but it does take away some of the party atmosphere slightly and the party is what a Go! Team gig should be all about.
Ninja seemed a bit sudued and wasnt her usual commanding self, although in one single moment she probably endeared herself to the entire audience and made sure the band would be remembered for a long time. Dedicating a song to Scotlands goal hero in Paris, the mention of James McFadden got the loudest roar of the night as the audience recalled the forwards stunning strike. There was a fair chance that some of the crowd were still drunk from Wedneday night but the reaction has been extremely over the top but Ninja played the football card very well.
And to be honest, when that remains one of the highlights or talking points of the night, it suggests that there wasnt much startling about the evening. Not that there was anything wrong with what The Go! Team did, particuarly with old favourites like 'Bottle Rocket' or 'Ladyflash' but there just seemed to be too much distance about the night to make it a roaring success.