Kings College Student Union, London Wednesday 6th June 2001
Clearlake are a breath of fresh air. Anyone with their mitts on debut album "Lido" will be aware of their inescapable charm, but a peek at their live performance really confirms a refreshing originality. Their cheeky, guitar led student-pop is a chink in the armour of indie-dirge.
Murray The Hump were in support but let’s face it, a Welsh band up against a world cup qualifier was never going to rake ‘em in. Their steady (and often bland) ditties were no match for a diminutive audience who were engrossed in scanning their text messages for the result. England 2 The Hump 0.
But Beckham wasn’t the only hero of the night. Clearlake enter the stage with a breezing confidence and cheery ‘hello’ that establishes them as the friendliest band on the circuit. Their chummy stage banter seems both genuine and endearing, adding to the magic of the evening. When the singer advises us to look out the window at the river-view, he claims ‘it’s much more beautiful than us’ I wouldn¹t bet on it.
Sunday Evening opens the set one of the most lyrically witty and musically uplifting tracks of the year. The live rendition is exhilarating. "Something To Look Forward To" is bizarrely similar to musical classic "The Street Where You Live" and you wouldn’t be surprised to find a Pearly King having a good-old-cockney-knees-up somewhere in the crowd. The drummer deserves a medal for his inspired role on "Don¹t Let The Cold In" another track that wouldn’t seem out of place in a West-End music hall. "Winterlight" is the wonderful high-point of the performance and could only be followed by hilarious homage to charity shopping, "Jumble Sailing".
Clearlake are a band with vision, charisma and an enchanting sense of humour. They provide a new brand of Brit-pop capable of nudging the likes of Blur and Bluetones off centre-stage. If there’s any justice in the world they won’t be playing student unions for long so buy a ticket now, while you’ll still get change from a tenner!
Johanna Payton
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