Review: Travis @ Hindley Street Music Hall 12/01/26
Travis landed down under, rocked us all and left us wanting more – nobody wanted this good feeling to end!
Words Brad Pine // Image Stefan Ruiz
Travis w/Josh Pyke @ Hindley Street Music Hall 12/01/26
Although the band Travis may not be in the headlines like Australian cricketer Travis Head at this present time, it did not diminish their fans from coming out to see the Scottish quartet. All the way back in 1999, Travis’ second album, The Man Who, was released to mixed reviews. It was only when they appeared at Glastonbury that their fortunes changed and they found themselves becoming stalwarts of post-Britpop.
Almost thirty years on, Travis arrived at Hindley Street Music Hall to a crowd of old rockers, Glaswegians-become-Adelaideans and many in between. The venue was the perfect fit for the band with its classic, intimate charm of early 2000s gigs, complete with a giant chandelier as the centrepiece above the crowd. Adding to the early 2000s vibes, I noticed fewer phones out to film every song throughout the night.
Before the main event, homegrown folk rock legend Josh Pyke arrived on stage – just him, an acoustic guitar, a loop machine and a harmonica. As he eased into his first song, ‘Memories And Dust’, the memories came flooding back for me. I thrashed his EP Feeding The Wolves when it was first released, but this was my first time seeing Josh live. As he stated, “It’s a pleasure to be here,” and it was a pleasure to have him. It was a set filled with his greatest hits, maybe not known to all, but still. He even credited Travis for making him look at his music differently – from the punk kid he was to the folk maestro he is.
Awaiting the presence of Travis, the image of The Man Who album cover came on the screen, minus the band members. But as the start time became closer, the invisible band became visible on the album cover once more. Coming out to Boards Of Canada’s ‘Roygbiv’, Travis went straight into album opener ‘Writing To Reach You’, making an instant connection with the crowd.
Singer Fran Healy greeted the crowd and informed us of his plan to use a PowerPoint presentation to help with the track-by-track commentary for the album. Fran’s humour and innate ability for storytelling were immediate, even with the odd technological slip with the presentation. “Technology… just toss it over,” he stated in jest. As the set was in order of the album, there was no surprise about what songs would be played. However, Fran’s insight into the creation of each track built on the atmosphere of the album.
‘As You Are’ allowed guitarist Andy Dunlop to show his prowess through a brilliantly distorted solo, and ‘Driftwood’ brought the whole crowd into the first real, powerful sing-along of the night. From Fran, we got insight into how their signature song ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me?’ became the third single from the album, the band thinking it would work with Wimbledon coming up and always being interrupted by rain. The forecast did not eventuate, but Glastonbury became the push the band needed. The “unofficial Scottish anthem” had everyone singing together and, with Fran’s instructions, pogoing as one.
The crowd fell silent for the lost love on ‘Luv’ that seemed so commonplace in Fran’s songwriting, after being dumped, or “chucked” as he put it, before making it big as a band. Fran suggested that songs become the bookmarks of our lives, signposts for us to see on the road of our lives. This was ever apparent on the album closer ‘Slide Show’, complete with a slideshow of early band photos. Hidden track ‘Blue Flashing Light’, which was stated as “the ugly duckling of the album”, ended The Man Who set with a bang, letting the band take a quick break before returning for a set of fan favourites.
The fan favourites set became less about the stories of each song and more about letting the songs speak for themselves. Mind you, there were still three songs about getting “chucked” that were lined up for us. One highlight of the favourites was the second single ‘Side’ from the album The Invisible Band. Green circles enveloped the band and the crowd in a brilliant lighting display (hats off to the Hindley Street Music Hall crew with the lighting and sound for the night as well). Another standout was ‘Gaslight’, with the screen projecting the lyrics for all of us to sing along, and we did with great gusto.
‘Flowers In The Window’ got the band together at the front of the stage with only the acoustic guitar, as if busking for our affection. I believe it worked. Bass player Dougie Payne and Fran remained on stage to bring us a cover of Britney Spears’ ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’. Then Andy and drummer Neil Primrose rejoined for Travis to leave us with the ultimate message to just ‘Sing’, especially when we need music now more than ever.
Travis may not be currently in the spotlight, but The Man Who and this current tour showed how energetic and enjoyable the band is some thirty-odd years on from their inception. They played a two-hour set with no real breaks and kept the audience constantly involved. Hey, not every band can have a slide show and make it interesting. I for one cannot wait for the Glaswegians to return.
