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I can’t remember the last time I arrived at a gig to an excitable queue! It seems like half of Norwich’s student population were out to cheer on one of the world’s most amusing bands even on a sleepy Sunday. It’s my first visit to The Waterfront too, which it turns out is quite a nice little venue, reminding me of Cambridge Junction before it got renovated, with pretty great sound and plenty of leaning pillars, which would be useful, I imagine, if you were watching post-rock, not the dance inducing pop rock of We Are Scientists.
First on the bill though, the easier choice, according to the band’s quirky announcement video, Morecambe’s The Heartbreaks, a band who look like such an indie stereotype that I could pretty much hear their music before they started! That said, the band undoubtably have worked hard on their act, with a tight performance which at times showed off some songwriting wonder, thanks largely to some great guitar work and a good sense of space to the tracks. They certainly weren’t my kind of music, but I can’t really fault them; definitely not unique, but certainly one of the best in that genre.
Superfood, a band seemingly suggested by satan himself, seemed a bit more fitting to get everyone moving, starting in a stupidly funky manner, their clean guitar licks matched with some great vocals. I’d never really managed to get into the band beforehand listening to the odd song, but live they put on such a great show that it’s practically impossible to not tap your feet along at least. I’ll be making sure I head to a headline show soon!
There seems to be a strong fog in the air as We Are Scientists walk onto the stage. Or, y’know, artificial smoke, although that probably wouldn’t make for as great banter between songs, as the band proceed to warn us all about the impending werewolf problem. With the recent release of ‘TV en Francais’ it was inevitable that they’d start with a new song, tonight coming in the form of ‘Return The Favor’, getting a few people jumping early on as the band fired through the track, obscured partly behind the smoke.
The old songs still seem to go down the best, with ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt’ being one of the first points where the whole crowd seemed to know what was going on. The newer tracks are fantastic, but I don’t think the new album has had time to sink in with most people yet. That’s not stopping people getting into it though, pockets of dancing breaking out in the front while all you can see looking back is a huge grins across everyone’s faces. Stopping the set to interview the lone security guard at the front about how much of an issue an escaped werewolf in the venue could be, the band finally inform us that the whole thing was a ruse. Gosh darn it, I was worried for a moment! Around the middle of the set the band drop in my favourite track from the new album, ‘Make It Easy’, driven by the powerful bass line the vocals really shine through on this track in particular, although it’s perhaps not well known enough to commandeer the singalongs that it so deserves. I’m sure in time this will be a fan favourite.
Ending the set on a high with ‘The Great Escape‘, We Are Scientists confused everyone a bit by not returning to play an encore, despite them finishing incredibly early. It does appear, looking at the set list that they just played through the encore songs without stopping, but it was quite odd to see a crowd of confused faces when the lights came back on.
We Are Scientists continue to be one the most fun bands in music. It’s a great combination, they have some killer songs, and they’re all brilliantly funny which gives them the rare ability to entertain both while playing and between songs. Their set was mostly upbeat, really showing off a wide range of material from over their 14 year existence as a band, a fairly perfect greatest hits. I actually feel on this occasion the biggest surprise was Superfood, who even managed to get me bouncing a bit, despite spending the whole evening feeling insanely tired thanks to their infectiously funky guitar parts.
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