It’s been (a little over) 10 years since the release of one of the most influential albums of the 2000’s: Costello Music by The Fratellis. This would be the first time they play the entirety of the album live. If you haven’t heard the album, go and listen to it while you read this. You will have heard ‘Chelsea Dagger’ and ‘Creepin Up the Backstairs’ before – trust me.
To celebrate the album and it’s successes, The Fratellis toured in November/ December last year, but due to issues with Jon’s voice, the London shows were rescheduled, making them the final nights of the epic tour.
The Fratellis opened not with the album, but with six songs from their two most recent albums (‘Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied’, and ‘We Need Medicine’). This definitely came as a shock to some fans who expected ‘Henrietta’, but the crowd seemed happy enough to dance around. Admittedly, as much as I loved their set-list, opening with Costello Music would have made the crowd a lot more interactive a lot quicker.’
When ‘Henrietta’ eventually did play, the crowd was ecstatic. The sea of people at O2’s Forum in Kentish Town jumped, sang, cheered, and moshed to the beginning of the album. The levels of energy from here to the end of their set was constantly high and raging, and I didn’t expect anything less.
Working their way through the album, ‘Whistle For The Choir’ saw the venue light up, ‘Baby Fratelli’ had people throwing their clothes on stage, and ‘Ole Black and Blue Eyes’ had some swaying and screaming. But nothing compared to ‘Chelsea Dagger’. I’ve seen the band perform this song before, but this time was something else. As their most well known song, I expected it to have the best reaction – but that night, it could rival their performance at T in the Park in 2007.
When they came back for their encore, they played ‘Too Much Wine’, fan favourite ‘A Heady Tale’, and a cover of ‘Runaround Sue’, before thanking the crowd for all the support they’d had over the past decade.
It was a night to remember, and I’ll never forget it.