The Invisible Band

Travis
Fillmore NY at Irving Plaza
July 15th

Tis been four long years since we’ve last heard from the Glaswegian quartet known as Travis. Four years doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but twas long enuff of a hiatus for me to fear they would never return at all, at least to our shores. For you see, Travis has had limited amount o’ success in America. And with each new release, that success keeps gettinz limitederer and limitederer. Which makes no farkin sense to me, considering that they’re better in every respect than the other wanker UK bands that have made a lasting splash, like Coldgay or Keane. And while their stadium rockin show should be playin and selling out MSG, I won’t complain too much that they’re stuck playing to two nights of sold out crowds at the much more user friendly Irving Plaza

Without hearing a single or double note of their new album, The Boy With No Name, I was already lined up with my hardon earned cash to see them. A month later, I realized that the show’s date was fast approaching, and I had yet to purchase said album. So with a week to go, I did some major cramming, cause nuttin is worse than seeing a band you like and not knowing any of the new tunes (the only case that that didn’t matter was rockin out to the Axl Rose fronted G’N’R cover band). Well, I is mos glaad that I crammed, cause not only did the boys easily pick up where they left off, but love hactually outdid themselves in the process. While their past three discs (The Man Who, The Invisible Band & 12 Memories) are all certifiable bestness, I bee leave they’ve purrfected their sound and tuneshipedness with Boy. If yer a newbie, I’d pick up all 4 immediately. Wants wrong with bein into wanker music? Not like we all don’t wank in the first place!

We’ve seen the fellas a bunch o’ times b4… even paying to see them open for Oasis at Radio City & Dido at Jones Beach in a much simpler pre-9/11 world, but last night our eyes were even mo wide open (didn’t hurt that Demetri Martin staged his white t-shirt ode to ‘Selfish Jean’… sea above for orig vid and live versh). Since wees is so in love with the new disc, we were quite jimmy jazzed that a 1/3 of their set was dedicated to its tracks. Usually new ditties stick out like a sore thumb up someone’s butt, but this was not the case last night. And the crowd seemed to agree, turning a user friendly plaza into a mos rockin stadium. Even though I want Travis to make it big in America, like my Chinese food, I can live without the MSG

Setlist

Selfish Jean
Eyes Wide Open [d]
Writing to Reach You
As You Are
My Eyes
Big Chair
Pipe Dreams
Re-offender
Side
Driftwood
Good Feeling
Closer (aborted & restarted)
Sing
Battle Ships
All I Want to Do Is Rock
Turn
——-
Flowers In the Window (acoustic)
Indefinitely
Selfish Jean w/Demetri Martin on shirts
WDIAROM