Courteeners at Brixton Academy

For the Courteeners, the O2 Academy Brixton is their performing home when they come to London, and their fans descended on the venue eager and excited to hear the latest from the band. Formed and based in Manchester in 2006, the five-piece indie rock band currently consists of members Liam Fray (lead vocals and guitar), Michael Campbell (drums) and Daniel Moores (rhythm guitar), Joe Cross (bass) and Elina Lin (keyboards). Their performance in front of a sold-out crowd in South London clearly showed that over the years, the love and appreciation of their music has extended down from their Northern home into the capital city.

The band kicked things off with Sweet Surrender, the first track from their seventh and latest album Pink Cactus Café, which immediately got the crowd moving. The luscious deep tones of the bass, drums and rhythmic guitar reverberated around the concert hall ensuring that those with seated tickets were not seated for long. In Pink Cactus Café, the eponymous song from their new record, you could hear some semblances of The Smiths in the melodic riffs and jingles, although the Courteeners’s interpretation is decidedly more positive.

Following a strong start, some of the songs became slightly repetitive and derivative of each other, with not much variety in vocals, tone or rhythm. As is common when indie bands perform, there was an acoustic section to the set where the rest of the band went off stage and left frontman Fray to strum his way through four songs. Unfortunately, the acoustic element was in name only. No amendments were made to the pace or the style of the songs. It felt as if the rest of the group could jump in at any point and there’d be no difference. The acoustic section might have worked much better had Fray completely stripped it back and slowed the songs down, giving the audience a chance to truly connect and understand the lyrics and heart of the songs. This felt particularly disappointing when it came to the cover of Labi Siffre’s song It Must Be Love, a tender song with beautiful lyrics and sentiment, which Fray and keyboardist Lin’s rendition was unable to emulate.

With fan favourites such as Are You in Love With A Notion?, Acrylic and Not Nineteen Forever, it felt like entering into a time capsule and walking out into a late 2000s/early 2010s indie fever dream. The crowd, warmed by nostalgia, were loudly singing along and dancing. Throughout these songs, you could see that lead singer Fray was at ease and smiling contently in the knowledge that these much-loved tracks would be well-received. The songs from their recent album felt fresher and more pop-focused but there was also a tentative air of vulnerability, indicative of a band hoping their newer music will resonate with their longtime supporters. Based on the reaction of the audience at Brixton Academy, it is clear that fans of the Courteeners’ music continue to hold them in high regard.

Whilst some of their music may have lacked when it came to originality and musical distinctiveness, and the acoustic set was a missed opportunity to showcase their talent, the Courteeners nonetheless brought lots of energy and passion to their performance in London.

Sunny Morgan
Photo: Virginie Viche

For further information and future events visit Courteeners’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Solitude of the Night Bus here: