Lights On
It's been quite a while since Reuben ventured out on a headline tour and with over a year and a half since the release of their superb second album 'Very Fast Very Dangerous' they could be forgiven for being a little nervous about whether the die hard fans would turn out. They needn't have worried as the Academy's basement venue is packed out, showing that Reuben's reputation remains as strong as ever.
Kicking off with 'Tonight My Wife is Your Wife' it takes all of two seconds for the crowd to start jumping en masse, it's hot and it's sweaty but no one seems to care, particularly when they follow it with the blistering 'Alpha Signal 3'. It's already shaping up to be the usual excellent show from Reuben when they pull my personal favourite 'Lights Out' from the bag. It's a great rendition of a song that has been missing from the set list for far too long. Now this being Reuben it's no surprise that there is plenty of interaction between crowd and band, John dons a shirt made for him by a fan whilst Jamie gives us the details of his food poisoning before pulling a lucky fan from the crowd in order to get them to tell everyone else how good the new Reuben DVD is!
Drawing heavily from older material tonight the set list is a real crowd pleaser with 'Moving to Blackwater' and 'Scared of the Police' following each other. A headline set gives them more time to air newer songs as well and as well as live standard 'Cities on Fire' we're also given 'Agatha' and 'We're All Going Home in an Ambulance'. The newer material has a slightly different feel to it but still retains the Reuben hallmarks of melody mixed with power and they slip seamlessly into the set. The crowd is on top form tonight and never stops moving with a succession of crowd surfers. The band seem both surprised and delighted at the numbers in the crowd and it spurs them on through 'Keep It To Yourself', a verse of which is sung by the Sucioperro bassist who finishes his part by launching himself into the crowd.
As they finish with 'Stuck In My Throat' it's clear that this has been yet another triumphant and important moment in Reuben's career. We keep saying it but they deserve bigger and better and there are a few hundred here tonight that will be determined to help them get there. There's no doubt that when they return in September it will be to another sold out crowd.