New album may be a "snore-fest," but live show isn't

By Liz Wagner
Collegian Editor
September 11, 2008

With their Apple buzz long gone and their second album Here We Stand a snore-fest, there was no reason to think Brit-rock band the Fratellis would sell out the TLA Sept 5th. Yet there we were, standing on the corner of 4th and South, scalping tickets from a scruffy middle-aged man and his wife. But even this couldn’t shake the feeling in my gut that though the Fratellis might be playing some of their Costello Music hits, they would be nothing to write home about.

Thankfully, oh thankfully, I was mistaken.

The night kicked off with Austin, Texas rock band the Electric Touch. The band powered through their tunes like a sexier version of Jet, rendering all the girls and most of the boys smitten. Guitarist Ross Dubois got his rockstar on with a pleather jacket and a confident mug for every song; the definition of sexy rock (swoon!). The band channeled The Beatles for a spot-on cover of “Come Together,” and the crowd ate it up in a sing-along mania. For an up-and-coming band from the South, the reception they garnered out of the Philly folk waiting for the raucous Fratellis was tremendous. Kids called for an encore as the band packed up their drums.

The Airborne Toxic Event hit the stage next, and their presentation was much more interesting than their music. Anna Bullbrook, the lady of the band, sported several roles during the set: keyboardist, tambourine player, violinist and dancing queen, seemingly dependent on her mood. She jumped from spasmodic dance move to crooning violin chord at the drop of a hat, sometimes playing back to back with bandmate Noah Harmon as he played bass with a violin bow. The band itself was an above average indie band with some neat keyboard, but without Bullbrook’s stage presence they would have floundered.

And then, the Fratellis. They seemed to be the friendliest of Scots between songs, but I’m fairly certain that, as is the case with his lyrics, nobody understood a word of what Jon Fratelli was saying through his thick accent.

Not that it mattered. When those Glasgow boys tore into “My Friend John,” the first track off Here We Stand, all posterity was lost.

Never have I seen an entire crowd dance. Not moshing, not foot tapping and head bobbing. Hundreds of Brit-loving folks were packed together dancing up a storm. And here’s the best part, the songs that bored me to tears off their sophomore album were spectacular. Every new song, from “A Heady Tale” to “Lupe Brown” to “Milk and Money” was pumped with the energy I thought the Fratellis had killed after Costello.

All the bar-brawling hits got played with a mind-frying frenzy. Surprisingly, “Henrietta” and “Chelsea Dagger” provoked the crowd more than Costello’s single “Flathead,” Fratellis’ hit made famous in one of those dance-y iPod commercials. Even slow jam “Whistle for the Choir” didn’t stifle the vigor from either the band or the crowd.

From start to encore closer “Baby Fratelli” everyone in the TLA was in motion. The crowd poured out onto South Street sweaty and smiling.

My only regret was the lack of “The Gutterati.” Were they worried about too much of a good thing? No such thing, Fratellis.

Come back and get Philly’s feet moving again soon.

wagnere1@lasalle.edu