Live Review: The Futureheads at RNCM, 13/04/12

It’s hard to believe that Barry, Ross, Jaff and Dave have been together 11 years now, with their high octane belligerent live sets with lashings of
electric guitar, dictatorial vocals and thwomping drums.

When I heard they were releasing acapella album ‘Rant’ admittedly I was a little dubious. How would The Futureheads be tamed? How would these gritty Mackems strip it back and do dulcet? The answer: with ease.

Gigs at the Royal Northern College of Music are a real thrill and always offer something original, something a bit special. Anyone having seen Everything Everything with a full orchestra here back in 2010 will know exactly what I mean. The grandeur and wonderful acoustics in the theatre along with the novelty of having a comfy seat is something to behold indeed.

Refreshingly it's obvious from the get go that this is a very 'hands on' affair, no frills. Ross and Barry man the merch table, and with not a guitar tech in sight, all intstrument swapping and tweaking is done by their own fair hands, enhancing the informal, comradely feel of the gig. And that’s what struck me the most during the course of the night; the wonderful jovialness, the obvious rapport between the band, the genuine wit and comedy exuded and the copious amounts of badinage. Coupled with the quality and dextrosity of their acoustic instrument playing and stalwart vocals, they really did deliver.

The sterling set on the last night of the tour brought an arousing mix of auld and contemporary as well as fresh takes on some of their classic anthems. They kicked off with ‘Beeswing’ and ‘The Keeper’, the latter we’re told, about a terrible hunter. Barry’s voice is, as ever, full of clout and well suited to the storytelling ways of such songs. Despite the front man taking the lead with most of the vocals it was pleasing to see the others taking more of a centre stage role than usual. Who knew Jaff could play the cello and Dave had a charming melodious voice eh?

‘Hard To Bear’ from 2008 album ‘This Is Not The World’ was the first of their own offerings that we were treated to acapella style. I was somewhat
dumbfounded how a song that’s always delivered so ferociously electrically could be just as - if not more - rousing acoustically. This thought continued in the likes of ‘News and Tributes’ and ‘Decent Days and Nights’, the taming of the songs allowing for the lyrics to reign through, enabling a more astute sense of what the songs are about.

Interesting choices of contemporary covers came in the form of Kelis’ ‘aptly named ‘Acapella’ and The Black Eyed Peas’ ‘Meet Me Half Way’. Never did I think I’d see the day I’d be sat listening to The Futureheads cover The Black Eyed Peas with mandolins and acoustic guitars. Surreal.

Ross himself seemed just as bemused, commenting that they never thought they’d see the day they had two songs by David Guetta on one of their albums. Kudos to them though, it worked and all thoughts of Will.I.Am were thankfully obliterated with their toe tapping melody and ardent string twanging.

Old drinking song ‘The Old Dun Cow’ irnoically provided much fevered participation on and off stage despite alcohol being contraband within the theatre, as it did during what we’re told is the Russian version of ‘Struck Dumb’. The addition of the divine Cornshed Sisters (tour support act) to the stage for what is known to be the oldest song in the English Language ‘Summer Is Icumen In’, saw a more haunting and delicate warmth - eight harmonious voices lilting away.

The voices soon multiplied once again with the addition of The Northern Quarter Boys' Choir to the stage boasting members from Manchester’s finest - Dutch Uncles and Young British Artists. The stunning array of voices takes us through a Sparks cover of ‘No 1 Song in Heaven’ and an eerie rendition of ‘Thursday’, all the while under the watchful eye of choir masters Mr Hyde and co.

Old faithful ‘Beginning of The Twist’ was given a Spanish spin, so much so I was expecting to see girls in Flamenco dresses and castanets make an appearance. They didn’t, but we did get some rather jaunty dance moves from Barry and much vehement mandolin playing; how the strings didn’t buckle I’ll never know. The morose sea shanty ‘Hanging Johnny’ and celebrated ‘Hounds of Love’ saw the evening’s proceedings sadly brought to a close with vast amounts of clicking and clapping.

Proving they’re no one trick pony, The Futureheads in all their folky charm, wowed us and silenced even the harshest of critics in one fell swoop.
For an essentially, by their own admission, ‘Indie’ band to take the plunge, record an acapella album and tour it without really knowing how it’s going to be perceived is a mighty risk and a risk The Futureheads took on head first.

Breaking from the norm and doing something a bit different isn’t celebrated enough in today’s industry and for this reason alone they deserve a mighty pat on the back. There was a definite sense of authenticity about it all, in the sense that they were doing something they wanted to do rather than something they’ve been told to do. The fact they were visibly rejoicing in it all made it so much more enjoyable for us as an audience and made it less a gig and more a good old sing song down the pub with friends.

Read more gig reviews

Read our recent interview with The Futureheads