LIVE: BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB Leeds Metropolitan University, Friday 1st August 2003 After drinking our way through support act The Hiss in The Met Bar (in case you're interested, from what we heard through the walls, The Hiss sounded like fairly bad to average garage rock), we made our way into the crowds expecting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to hit the stage at 9pm. After abandoning the main floor in favour of the gallery, due to lack of air and abundance of sweat, I managed to squidge my little self in between two middle-aged trendies at the railings and secured myself an excellent view. And what a view it was. Three or four roadies fiddling incessantly with guitars. For forty-five minutes. As the poor sods down in the pit got hotter and more pissed off, we began to wonder whether the guitars really needed such attention. Had the band turned up?

Suspicions rose when the aforementioned roadies brought out two stools (which, frankly, smacked of Westlife) on to the stage. With suspense like that building up, imagine the screams when Peter Hayes and Robert Turner walked out on stage at 9.45pm, took up position on the stools and picked up their acoustic guitars. Imagine the confusion when drummer Nick Jago failed to appear, and the lonesome twosome launched into a mini acoustic set. Personally, I had no problem with this - I could always say I'd seen them do something different (apparently this was the first time they'd ever played acoustically at a gig), and I'm an acoustic kind of gal anyway - but the disappointment was palpable in the crowd, as was the tension on stage. Thankfully, after three acoustic songs, including a nice sing-a-long rendition of 'Love Burns', Nick Jago stumbled on stage and sat down behind the kit, Rob Turner kicked over his stool, and the band launched into what turned out to be a fantastic gig. After apologising for the false start (apparently Jago had been told the wrong time for the start of the gig), band and audience got the frustration out of their system with an absolutely banging 'Spread Your Love', which put a huge smile on my face as I watched the BO army down below moshing like mad from the (relative) comfort of the gallery. Although the setlist was cut by two or three songs (I can vouch for this, having had a nice view of the setlist below me), they managed to roll out the old classics as well as showcasing a lot of new album material. I can't say I was mad about all of it ('Generation' was a bit too Oasis for me, and a couple of other songs seemed to blend into a slightly samey middle-of-gig tedium), but 'Shade of Blue' and 'Rise Or Fall' definitely stood out. Old favourites 'Love Burns' and 'Red Eyes and Tears' were outstanding, but for me the gig culminated in the sheer storming brilliance of 'Whatever Happened To My Rock 'N Roll (Punk Song)', complete with strobes and a succession of unsuccessful and rather sheepish crowd surfers. BRMC also have the rare gift of being blessed with an entertaining bass player (much like REM's Mike Mills in his Monster days, but without the spangly cowboy suits), and entertain us he did. With his Side-Show Bob hair and his momentary dip into the crowd, not to mention the fact that he and Peter Hayes share the singing equally, and equally well, Robert Turner has found himself a new fan in me. Although the music press has praised new album 'Take Them On, On Your Own' for being intelligently political and musically credible at the same time, I can honestly say that when you're in that crowd, the politics doesn't matter - the music speaks perfectly well on its own. I went in undecided, I came out a fan. Buy the album - if it's half as good as the live act, you'll love it. I hope. Kate Skelton. Click here to discuss this review on our music forum.

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