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Far too often, Athlete are said to “be a bit like Coldplay”, or “be influenced by Snow Patrol”. Wrong and wrong. Sorry. I’ve been an Athlete fan for a long time, excluding the month I went off them when a friend of mine tried to announce his love by serenading me with 'Wires' (Simon Cowell would have had a field day...). When I first heard 'El Salvador' being played on the well-known Essex FM I knew I loved them and this has never changed, so finding tickets to a small gig as part of a Christmas Tour made my term.
Having eventually arrived at Manchester Ritz, after my darling boyfriend decided to walk the wrong way for 10 minutes in the rain, I knew we were in for something special. It may be slightly grotty, and, since I live near London, it certainly isn’t the biggest place, but it has the best atmosphere of any venue I’ve been to, and its small size allowed for a feeling of intimacy that got the crowd buzzing.
I’ve seen my fair share of support bands, and many of them aren’t worthy of note. However, both seen at this gig are destined for stardom. Opening the show were Take The Radio, who, whilst relatively unknown, played enough catchy tunes to get the crowd’s attention, and many were singing along to the choruses when their short set ended. However the second act, As Tall As Lions, truly won the audience over. From the moment they stepped on stage half the crowd were theirs and their passion on stage meant that the rest were completely engaged before the set was halfway through. Being from New York (although excitedly I thought they said York at first, so my won-over-ness did drop a little bit...), this band seem to be the real thing, and expect them to be another US band that we adopt as our own.
For about 3 seconds it felt as though Athlete would be outplayed by the previous act, before the backing track for 'El Salvador' pounded through the speakers, the band stepped on stage, and the crowd gave them an almighty reception. For much of the first half, the audience were quite quiet, but choruses were enthusiastically sung out by many, myself included.
The set really seemed to take off when 'Superhuman Touch' was played, followed by 'Black Swan Song', dedicated to the lead singer’s grandfather, both tracks taken from their most recent album, Black Swan. After this more sombre melody, Athlete upped the pace with 'You’ve Got The Style', prompting the entire audience to attempt to out sing the band. They failed, but only just.
The set continued to get better after this, with songs such as 'Tokyo', 'Half Light' and 'Twenty-Four Hours', all known crowd pleasers. All too soon the set was ending, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a small crowd make such a loud noise as the encore was demanded, and Athlete had saved their best until last; I haven’t enjoyed an encore this much, ever. 'Rubik’s Cube' is my favourite song off the latest album, whilst 'Wires' is "their song". It is the one song that makes everyone who thinks they “know” Athlete assume they are a one-hit-wonder. The crowd went wild at the introduction before joining the band in a sing-a-long rendition, containing all the passion and emotion the song deserves.
Unlike many more famous London bands that Athlete are often compared to, they are the band that just enjoy making music and creating albums to be proud of rather than the bands that change their style to ensure they stay famous. If people would listen without comparing them to another band, they would realise just how brilliant Athlete really are, and how timeless their music will be.
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