(9/3/10)
Stereophonics are Wayne Rooney’s favourite band. There, as that must be stated whenever the Stereophonics are written about, best to get it out of the way quickly so we can get on with the business of seeing whether they will live up to their reputation as one of the better live acts in the country…
The Welsh band arrived in Sheffield midway through a UK tour in support of their recent album ‘Keep Calm and Carry On‘ and, if frontman Kelly Jones is to be believed, it’s been going very well. “Glasgow S.E.C.C was the best gig ever” he allegedly told The Sun (yeah it’s The Sun, but go with it), so hopes were high for a good showing amongst the near capacity crowd at Sheffield Arena.
After being well warmed up by support band Hip Parade, Stereophonics immediately introduced their new album to the crowd, opening with the album’s first single ‘Innocent’. It’s not the most dynamic start to a gig, but when early favourites ‘A Thousand Trees‘ and ‘More Life In a Tramp’s Vest‘ immediately follow, the audience quickly find their voices. The opening sets the tone for the show, as the quality of their early material, especially those taken from their excellent debut album ‘Word Gets Around‘ (five are played), stand in contrast to those lifted from the albums which have proceeded it.
The middle part of the set is dominated by slow tempo tracks such as ‘I Wouldn’t Believe Your Radio‘, ‘Maybe 
Tomorrow‘, ‘Mr Writer‘ and new single ‘Could You Be The One’, which goes around in dizzying circles for three minutes before ending exactly where it started. Things are only lifted by a welcome dip back into ‘Word Gets Around’ when ‘Same Size Feet‘ helps to push the gig up into fifth gear again, but by ‘Beerbottle’ the one-paced nature begins to grind.
A large bulk of the setlist is dedicated to tracks from their new album. Nine in total are played, the highlight of which is ‘Live n Love‘ a typical, breezy 90s-era Britpop tune, which sits nicely alongside the huge crowd-favourites which also permeate the set.
The contrast felt early on between old and new is most clearly seen with early song ‘Traffic’ and the aforementioned new track ‘Beerbottle’. Both slow, reflective tunes, the former brims with emotion and genuine quality, while the latter is exactly the kind of song which their detractors love to point to - a dreary, forgettable number which goes nowhere and is the longest four minutes of the night.
That’s not to say all of the Stereophonics quality has been restricted to their first two albums, and in some of the newer material there are signs of a band looking to be more than the ‘meat and potatoes’ rock they have been often labelled as. In fact, one of the most puzzling aspects of the night is that their strongest record since those early days, 2005’s ‘Language, Sex, Violence, Other?‘ is strangely overlooked, with only ‘Superman’ and the number one single ‘Dakota‘ lifted from the album.
As the gig draws to a close, a quick run-through of ‘Caravan Holiday‘ leads nicely into an exhilarating rendition of ‘Just Lookin’, which ushers in a truly fantastic ending to the gig, one which does indeed help to cement Stereophonics’ live reputation. ‘Just Lookin‘ is followed by career highlight ‘Local Boy In The Photograph‘ and when the band return to finish the set with ‘The Bartender & The Thief‘, and the nights obvious big singalong ‘Dakota‘, it becomes clear Stereophonics are a band who recognise the strength of a big finish and they succeed in sending the crowd away with smiles on faces, and thanks to some Pyrotechnics which produces the biggest jump of the night from the front, confetti in their hair.
Overall, the show has real highs, but struggles to hold attention for longer than two or three songs at a time. Towards the end, the gig is perfectly summed up by two women in the seats, who suddenly rise to their feet for a good old dance to the last two songs, before promptly exiting stage-left about 30 seconds into the encore.
Stereophonics display some genuine quality during the show, chiefly from their first two records, but lack the consistency to produce a truly memorable gig. Overall it’s loud, it’s rock n roll, but it’s just not quite exciting enough.
7/10
(Dave Smith)
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