The Subways @ Koko
June 11 2008 @ Koko, Camden, London.
So, I was looking forward to this about as much as having screws drilled in my ears or eating faeces, but lo and behold 5 minutes in and here I am, pressed against some youngster, swaying as 'the kids' go nuts to the bare-chested (except for bassist Charlotte Cooper, which is disappointing!) Subways, with a huge grin on me mug. Ok, it's unoriginal, dumb and sub Nirvana, but it's also a lot of fun.
To be honest, I couldn't even bring myself to listen to either of their albums before going to the gig, that's how utterly ordinary I find them (so I don't even know the names of the songs), but live....well, it's an entirely different experience. With youthful exuberance and all the qualities of a great front man, lead singer Billy Lunn has the packed Koko in the palm of his hands, regardless of his awfully clichéd shout outs ("I wanna hear some noise" "C'mon Koko make some noise" " I wanna hear you make some noise" - what's he got about audience noise? We came to see and hear them not the other way around!).
Despite (or maybe even because of) a 3 year absence the crowd are lapping it up like kittens under a cow udder - they bloody LOVE IT! They also love (and so do I) a bit of a show, and Billy Lunn is not going to disappoint - Stage diving from the speaker stacks not good enough for you? Ok, I'll jump from the balcony then! Furthermore, both he and Charlotte put so many of their peers to shame - no hiding behind a mic stand for this band, no siree - they're going to be a blur; playing to the audience, attacking their instruments like they're in a boxing match and generally running around every inch of the stage. All this plus one enormous crowd sing-a-long, which it would seem, only my companion and I out of the whole place, have no idea what the words are.
The only 2 tunes that I really know are 'Oh Yeah' and 'Alright', both of which are injected with about ten times more pig live. The question needs to be asked; why does their studio work sound so feeble compared to the noise that they make live? Is it to make it more acceptable for the mainstream? Whatever it is, I wish they'd learn from the audience’s reaction tonight, and make their work rawer and more brutal.
Overall then, if you like The Subways on record it's mandatory you see them live. If you don't like them on record go anyway, they might just blow you away.