“Do you think your weekend could get better?” Mike Skinner asks the crowd as opening track (also the opener, title track and latest single from his new album) Everything Is Borrowed comes to a closer, and he is greeted with euphoric response from the crowd packed into the new (though you wouldn’t know it from the state of the floor) Academy in Leeds.
Personally, I’m still sceptical about the venue. Not so much as a gig venue, the sound is great though they seem to sell far too many tickets and as a consequence it’s a bit crowded. I’m more concerned about how it will cope as a club, especially if they pack that many people into it. Anyway, tonight is not about the venue as it quickly becomes obvious that wherever Mike Skinner is one stage, whether it be a tiny club or the main stage at a festival (memories of Leeds Festival in 2006), all eyes are going to be on him.
Following the opener, Skinner and backing band kick straight into Don’t Mug Yourself and it’s instantly apparent that this is going to be a sweaty night to say the least. With everyone clearly really up for it, Skinner rattles through an hour a bit of his back catalogue, drawing heavily from debut album Original Pirate Material, and indeed, it’s the older tracks that get the best reception. The likes of Has It Come To This, Let’s Push Things Forward and Could Be Well In are of course present, but the inclusion of album tracks such as Turn The Page, It’s Too Late and Same Old Thing is great.
Other highlights included On The Edge Of A Cliff, from the latest album, Weak Become Heroes and, the only track to be played off 2006’s The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living, Never Went To Church which ended with a rendition of Daddy’s Gone by Glasvegas from Skinner’s backing vocalist Kevin Mark Trail. There’s also the mandatory “Go Low” during Has It Come To This, whereby everyone crouches as the music slows down, then jumps up as it kicks in again, this time accompanied by Skinner shouting out the chorus from Hot Chip’s Over & Over. The main set is closed with a spine-tingling mass sing-along to Blinded By The Lights.
The encore encompasses single’s Dry Your Eyes and Heaven For The Weather and closes in rapturous fashion with Fit But You Know It, followed by the chorus of Who Knows Who, a track Skinner recently recorded with Muse.
Skinner puts pretty much any indie frontman I’ve seen in a long while to shame with the way he can play off and manipulate the crowd. The heavy emphasis on his first album, despite it being the tour for his 4th, is hardly a bad thing as with the live band, these tracks themselves are almost reinvented. The choice not to play singles Prangin’ Out and When You Wasn’t Famous shows Skinners recognition of public opinion that his 3rd was by far his worst album, and as I agree with this opinion I’m not complaining. I’m not sure the gig was actually a sell out, which possibly helped the venue. Do I think my weekend could get much better? Well, if you’ve got 1500 people and Mike Skinner in a room, it’s pretty much a fact it’s going to.
The Streets played:
Everything Is Borrowed
Don't Mug Yourself
Let's Push Things Forward + Out Of Space (The Prodigy)
The Escapist
Same Old Thing/The Sherry Ends/Sharp Darts
It's Too Late
Could Be Well In
Never Went To Church + Daddy's Gone (Glasvegas)
On The Edge Of A Cliff
Has It Come To This + Over & Over (Hot Chip)
Weak Become Heroes
Blinded By The Lights
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Turn The Page
Dry Your Eyes
Heaven For The Weather
Fit But You Know It + Who Knows Who? (Muse & The Streets)
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