TRAVIS
SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
by Daniel Iffland

Poor Travis. Releasing a debut LP at the back end of Britpop garnered them a fairly healthy following and minor NME celebrity. Half gonzoid rock, half Radioheadish slowies it had its good points and promised a brightish future. The making of the second album was a seemingly protracted affair, swapping producers, scrapping songs and garnering bizarre personal styles (more on this later).

Tonight was the end of a tour during which, the above mentioned second album, The Man Who, hit number one and sold consistently and heavily. Producing such a quiet CD may not have been the plan but it seems to have struck a cord with the Middle Englander who have suddenly realised there whole-hearted embrace of the Stereophonics may have been a little misguided. Although the CD does tend to sag it does have some gorgeous moments, Writing to Reach You, Driftwood and As You Are, and all are lovingly reproduced tonight.

Unusually for a British band (or any band for that matter, Spiderbaits constant rallying against what amounts to their fanbase is appalling in its egotism and cynical exploitation, ahem) they actually seem to enjoy their fans enthusiasm.

The main problem of the night is that they peak to early. First song in fact. Their first ever single, All I Wanna Do Is Rock, is immense. A slow building and surprisingly heavy song it spirals into a huge climax and leaves the crowd a little shell shocked. The night then settles into a sing-a-long and is pleasant but a little disappointing, especially when the highlights of The Man Who, really do promise a little more.