We Were Promised Jetpacks

support Le Cul
author TL date 28/01/10 venue Loppen, Copenhagen, DEN

Those of you who haven't tried as hard to drink you memory away, as I often conclude that I must have myself, might remember a review of a certain album by a certain band which I picked up on, only because of their funny name. Yep, that would indeed be "These Four Walls" by the young Scots in We Were Promised Jetpacks, and if you remember that, you might also remember that I liked them quite a lot, so naturally, when I discovered that they would play in Denmark's cosiest venue, Loppen in Christiania, I soon signed up for review duty. Before I could get to the venue however, there was the small matter of a handball match between Denmark and Croatia in the Euro Cup, which had to be seen (me being a massive handball nerd and all). I guess I could have saved myself the trouble however, because not only did Denmark lose and exit the tournament at a disappointing fifth place, spending time on watching it also meant that me and my compadres arrived late at the venue, only barely getting to witness a few songs of the local support band Le Cul and effectively, the only impression I really have from them is that one of their singers had an impressive moustache, and that they reminded me slightly of Mando Diao? Nevertheless, help me make amends by checking their myspace out before you head two lines down, to the description of tonight's main event, please?

We Were Promised Jetpacks

In truth, the report on WWPJ's show tonight need not be a long nor an overly elaborate one, because the show was far from mind-bending or -blowing in any way, rather it was more like the definition of a good old fashioned good time. The four Scots stride casually on stage and launch into their stuff without messing around in any way, and it quickly becomes apparent that they make a point to make their show about the songs, rather than about any sort of contrived showmanship. An approach I'm sure appealed much to the substantial gathering of mostly indie looking audience members, who greeted the band in an equally relaxed manner. Personal favourite songs of mine, such as "Quiet Little Voices" and "It's Thunder And It's Lighting" make their appearance soon enough, their renditions quite faithful to the album versions, and people nod, sing and shout along, and while much isn't really going on, there's still a feeling of excitement in the room, inspired by the simple fact that the songs being played are just flat out enjoyable, and both band and crowd know that, and accordingly, both are just happy to be right here in this moment. We get to hear "Keeping Warm" and "Ships With Holes Will Sink", and we dance a little, tap our feet a little, nod our heads a little and sing along some more. It might sound a tad tame compared to the shenanigans usually taking place at a rock show, but in honest, listening to WWPJ perform their down to earth, yet up-beat stuff, without bullshit and with only scarce, casual exchanges with the audience, just felt natural, chilled out and really satisfying - An impression I'm sure is shared by the majority, judging from the number of smiling faces loyally paying their attention to the band on the low stage. And that's mostly all that can be said I think. After some ten songs, the guys put down their instruments and leave the stage as casually as they came, and the audience makes their way into the night, carrying with them an experience that put a smile on their faces worth every bit of the ticket cost, even if it was never going to make a memory as one of those few "sick shows I saw at Loppen once!".

All photos courtesy of Hannah Lanfear

Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.