The Stereophonics haven’t really been away since the release
of 2009’s Keep Clam and Carry On. The three years between that and this week’s
Grafitti on the Train have been filled with intimate tours and one-off shows
that have highlighted the band’s extensive (and underrated) discography, including
full performances of earlier records, Paul Weller-shaped guest spots and rarities
that will likely never reach an audience again.
If there’s a message behind the band’s album-launching show
on Monday, then, it’s that it’s time to get back to business.
A bit of setlist shuffling has been going on backstage,
evident as the show opens with thumpy crowd-pleaser, The Bartender and the
Thief - usually assigned encore duties. These first few moments reaffirm the
band’s status as an outfit for both sexes; there’s no manly uproar from the
crowd nor pints of beer flying across the air as they might for one of their contemporaries,
but everyone is delighted to see them.
The talk of the night is undoubtedly the group’s latest
studio effort, which is played in its entirety here. There’s no shortage of hits
to break up the new material, but it’s incredibly revitalising to hear Kelly’s
voice rip into a set of fresh tracks from an album that’s easy on the ears.
Much of what’s here sticks close to formula, and there are a few misses (the more
tracks Catacomb and Roll the Dice suggest the group no longer possess the knack
for ballsy rock anthems that they did back in the 90s), but there’s a wealth of
ballads and experiments that are an audible treat.
Indian Summer, the most recent single, is an agreeable and
effortless pop song that’s impossible not to sing along to, while the
captivating Been Caught Cheating, a song that Kelly explains is the type that “usually
gets left on the table”, is the evening’s standout performance. There are several
others to rival it, not least among them the moody and atmospheric Violins and Tambourines,
which sounds as vexing live as it does on disc.
Not much time is left for the more ambiguous tracks - Keep
Calm is entirely absent – but there’s a welcome moment to squeeze in the
incredibly compelling and emotionally heavy Billy Davie’s Daughter from debut
album Word Gets Around. As a whole it comes off as a night that’s meant to
function mechanically as much as it does emotionally – slotting the new in
side-by-side with the old and not daring to uproot the now-tired Dakota from its
set-closing position. Not that most of the crowd mind, having evidentially
saved all energy for that final track. That’s sadly a little telling of the
kind of audience that the group caters to these days.
Faults aside, this is a promising start to what should be an
extensive touring year for the group. Their latest effort in-studio will do
wonders to bolstering their setlist as they iron out the kinks and return to
the arena venues they’ve earned their place in.
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