The Courteeners, Waterfront

When you actually see The Courteeners, you soon realise how much of an impact they are having, how much people have really connected with them. Every song can be related to, it isn’t quite Definitely Maybe, but it’s not a million miles away. Playing to an audience that was filled with more 30-somethings than you’d expect, less of the little indie kids, although the Wombats gig at the UEA could have had something to do with that. The Courteeners are the voice of this 30-something generation, they have lived what he’s singing, and love him for singing it.

Lead singer and heartbeat of The Courteeners, Liam Fray, gets a heroes welcome with shouts of ‘Liam’ and is wearing his bands own t-shirt, ‘Can you play guitar, can you fuck’. Opening with album opener Aftershow, the hands are instantly in the air and the crowd is into it straight away. The confidence that The Courteeners exude is completely warranted, Fray needn’t even be singing, and stops in most songs as the crowd bellow the words back, he so easily could fall flat on his face, but everyone knows every word biblically. This confidence is emphasised with B-side ‘Smiths Disco’, a song that fellow Manc-son (via Scunthorpe) might be interested in hearing, it has close resemblance to his ‘Scar’, surely only a band with utmost confidence in their songs can play b-sides on their first main tour.

After Fray had sung ‘Yesterday, Today and Probably Tomorrow’ alone, the band returned and exploded into the snarling ‘If It Wasn’t For Me’, showing the band’s tightness, but so often they are seen almost as Fray’s backing band, especially with Fray the only one really moving, or should it be swaggering, on stage.

Acrylic, notoriously ‘left’ off the album, but stuck on the end, is received almost as loudly as singles ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and finale ‘What took you so long’ during which the whole place erupts, fists are pounding the air and everyone singing along. All this with just one album that’s only been out for about a month.