Travis at Shepherd’s Bush Empire

It’s easy to forget quite how popular Travis were at the turn of the Millennium.

Just one year after performing Why Does It Always Rain on Me? during a well-timed rain shower at the 1999 Glastonbury festival, they were headlining it alongside David Bowie.

Unlike fellow post-Britpop Dublin Castle alumni turned all-conquering international behemoth Coldplay, memories of Travis have somewhat faded over the years.

But their sophomore record The Man Who was once a regular on greatest album lists while its follow-up, The Invisible Band outsold efforts by the likes of Destiny’s Child, U2, Kylie Minogue and Coldplay in the UK in 2001.

Both have perhaps slipped into overlooked CD collections and that’s a bit of a shame. Because what Travis offer on a cold December night in West London is both unusual and great entertainment.

In recent times frontman Fran Healy has ditched a Michael Stipesque ageing hippy look for a shock of dyed red hair, and on the Shepherd’s Bush Empire stage he joins bandmates Dougie Payne and Andy Dunlop in leaping around like members of The Offspring.

The hits are there of course; early on we get Driftwood and Writing to Reach You. Then Side, Closer and Sing come in a mid-set run, before Turn makes for an initial closer.

Interspersed are tracks that showcase the group’s rockier side – such as the raucously enjoyable Selfish Jean. Recent single Gaslight is a delightfully sneery bittersweet ode to jealousy and self-doubt.

Travis, though, have always had slightly more edge to them than the mellow impression given during their imperial phase. Even those easy-listening anthems sometimes had a darker, melancholic tone to their lyrics.

In that spirit, at times on stage it seems Healy seems to be having a mid-life crisis – but one of the good, creative, angsty kind rather than one that results in a divorce and superfluous sports car.

At one point he even falls into the crowd with his mic stand, while the songs are accompanied by caustic asides, detailing everything from teenage heartbreak to the loss of a favourite New York haunt honoured by new song Raze the Bar.

That all makes for a far more interesting set than if they had merely plodded through the hits.

Ultimately they are what we’re here for though, and Travis deliver those in style with an encore that includes their famous cover of Baby, One More Time, Flowers in the Window and, inevitably, their fitting finale, Why Does It Always Rain on Me?

Mark Worgan
Photos: Virginie Viche

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

Watch the video for the single here: