Live
The Night Café
02 Academy, Liverpool
May 5 2017
Words/Pictures: Jane Davies
“Yous are all sick!” That was The Night Café’s reaction to their super pumped audience at the end of a blistering home city performance. The Night Café had been pretty sick too. Recent touring with Sundara Karma and The Hunna had served as excellent preparation for this present headlining outing. They had certainly come of age in a venue packed to the rafters with people still under compulsory school age and not much younger than themselves.
Earlier on, Fin Power of support act The BOHOs, had asked how many of the audience were still in education. A rhetorical question if there ever was one. The distinct lack of queue at the bar upon my arrival confirmed early on that this was to be a very young clientele. Already buoyant and highly animated after a flawless and rousing performance by Power’s band, the audience had upped tempo to fever pitch as soon as the lights went down, signalling the imminent arrival of the main draw.
‘The Way of Mary’ got the gig off to a roaring start. Clad in combat jacket, frontman Sean Martin did not have to battle to win over this audience. They were captive from the start and the whole room was a swaying mass of raised arms for the entire 50 minutes of their on stage time. The lively atmosphere was further enhanced by their regular interactions with the audience; inviting them to sing along and dance, not that they needed any invitation.
‘Strange Clothes’ - one of the tracks on their new EP and an audience favourite - elicited squeals of excitement. Their live performance was true to their studio sound, at times surpassing it. So many of their songs have a happy and sunny vibe to them and the very aptly named ‘Let The Summer Days Shine’ was aired for the first time and proved an instant hit.
The sheer energy generated by audience and band alike lead to a very overheated lead singer who shared with the audience that he was sweating through everything he had on: “I’m soaking!” he wailed - cue shrieks of wild amusement from the predominantly female audience. ‘Addicted’ proved to be a particular audience favourite and it’s very possible that many more will become addicted as their popularity inevitably grows, aided by their very strong stage performance and connection with the audience.
Post-gig, the band came off stage to receive a line of waiting fans; a very nice personal touch that was much appreciated. It was most encouraging to see so many young people come out to support local music and to see a band so young play with a professionalism way beyond their years. The future of live music in Liverpool is looking good if this is anything to go by.
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