Teenage Fanclub concluded its two night stay at Lincoln Hall with a high spirited show filled with timeless songs from the band’s early days to their latest work in five years, Shadows (Merge). All the elements that have contributed to the band’s sound over the last 20 years—Beach Boys/Beatles mixed harmonies, jangly/overdrive pumped guitars, solid song hooks—blanketed the happy crowd for close to two hours.
|
| |
Teenage Fanclub
|
Lincoln Hall
Chicago, IL
October 6, 2010
|
| |
|
At one time, the Glasgow group was described by former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher as the second best band in the world after the Manchester lads. With Oasis now out of the picture, the modest sized audience that filled Lincoln Hall from top to bottom got to witness the best band take to the stage (mind you that we’re working off of Liam Gallagher’s logic). But the warm reception Teenage Fanclub received by its fans was enough evidence that even after five years there was still a place for them and their music.
The show shifted between clean and crunched guitar tones, almost as if mapping out the course of the band’s musical maturity. The fan friendly set list leaned heavily on songs from and before 1997’s Songs From Northern Britain. It’s reasonable to understand that after a five year gap between albums Teenage Fanclub would craft its set list more on its “greatest hits” than its latest album. Only four songs from Shadows appeared during the show, three of which made up the first six songs of the show.
The soft glow of “Baby Lee” received the crowd’s vote as being the standout track off the new album. The crowd certainly had happy faces whenever the band revisited the past, such as gems like “The Concept” and “Don’t Look Back.” Still, with over half of the show dedicated to material that made up just half of the band’s 2003 compilation album Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds, there was a sense that Shadows was sent to the corner of the club until it was time to pack up the tour van.
The balance that had been achieved among the songwriting trio of Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love was indeed a strength that could be heard and felt from the stage. From McGinley’s sweet “Your Love Is the Place Where I Come From,” and Blake’s melodic “I Don’t Want Control of You” to Love’s rambunctious “Sparky’s Dream,” Teenage Fanclub proved that the heart and the fun behind those songs had not diminished over time.
The guitar team of Blake and McGinley was a shining example of how understated guitar work could create subtle movements that add to a song’s character without having to settle for flashy tricks. Of the three songwriters, Blake remained the showman throughout the night, engaging with the crowd and sharing tips on what hot dogs to order at Chicago’s Dog House around the corner from Lincoln Hall.
The night’s finale was pulled from the band’s 1990 debut album A Catholic Education. Fans closest to the stage jumped up and down, strapped on their air guitars and raised their fists in the air as Teenage Fanclub stomped out “Everything Flows” behind drummer Francis MacDonald’s lead. While there was something to be said of the relative absence of Shadows, it clear Teenage Fanclub has not lost its touch. Twenty years and eight albums later, Teenage Fanclub remains a band that fans can still count on for a good tune.
Powered by AkoComment 2.0!
