WORDS AND IMAGES BY WARREN MILLAR
“Within Seconds Of The Band Leaving The Stage The Crowd Started Up With The Now Famous Chants From “Chelsea Dagger” It Was Spine Tingling”
Glasgow’s Indie/Garage rock masters “The Fratellis” at last kicked off their “Half Drunk Under A Full Moon” tour at Manchester Academy. A that gig was rescheduled from October 2020.
Best known for their 2006 double platinum single “Chelsea Dagger” a song named after guitarists Jon Fratelli’s wife Heather, a burlesque dancer who’s stage name is a play on “Britney Spears” and a much used tune at football stadiums and sporting events all over the world.
Their latest album “Half Drunk Under A Full Moon”, released in April 2021 and delayed by over a year due to COVID-19, is the sixth studio album and is a pleasant contrast to the more rock-oriented music of previous albums.
Driving to Manchester tonight on a very mild night for this time of year, we stick “Costello Music” in the CD Player this was The Fratellis first and biggest selling album, a little bit of mood setting before we get there. We now can’t wait for these guys to hit the stage.
Support for tonight comes from Manchester’s indie quartet “Corella”. Joel, Ben, Jack & Faw know their stuff and the half hour set is full of great indie tunes. The guys seem to have brought along quite a few fans as we can hear quite a lot of tonight’s punters singing along to their tunes. We even get the crowd singing Happy Birthday to Corella’s drummer who’s playing this gig on his Birthday, that’s dedication ! Great support set guys which set the mood just right for what was about to come.
At last the house lights dim and PA plays “The Can-Can” from Offenbach’s satirical operetta “Orpheus in the Underworld” Wow not expected, but brilliant! On walk The Fratellis with Joh Fratteli sporting a great cream fedora hat. As well as Jon, Mince and Barry Fratelli we also have on stage tonight a little brass section of trumpet and saxophone and three great looking backing singers in dicky bows and tails, very smart.
The guys start off with the ever popular “Henrietta” first track from their first album, its slick, tight and beautifully played. As the rest of the show takes place we can’t get over how good the live music actually sounds. Every tune is spot on and seems to be performed with ease. It’s great to listen to musicians seemingly at their very best and tonight “The Fratellis” are without a doubt at their very best. Its banger after banger a mix of old and new tunes and fans singing and dancing away just loving it.
Stand out songs for us tonight would be “Whistle For The Choir” The brilliant cover of Baccara’s “Yes Sir I Can Boogie” The great sing along tune “Flathead” and “Ole Black N Blue Eyes” There was one more tune tonight that was epic (and we all know what that’s going to be) but more of that soon.
What made tonight great was the music, sometime you go to see a band you quite like and although you’r excited to see them and the band are there on stage in front of you playing your favourite tunes and the music just doesn’t sound right. it could be the venue acoustics, the sound/mix or just the band not quite at their very best (which let’s be honest happens to us all) But tonight “The Fratellis” were on top of their game in every way. They finished their set with “We Need Medicine” and left the stage. to rapture’s of applause, shouts and whistles
Within seconds of the band leaving the stage the crowd started up with the now famous chants from “Chelsea Dagger” it was spine tingling and totally on point.
Back on to stage came Jon alone, picked up his guitar treated us to intimate solo performance of “Lay Your Body Down” from their latest album “Half Drunk Under A Full Moon”. The rest of the band joined him on stage and the unmistakable bass line intro to the one song everyone was waiting hear “Chelsea Dagger” echoed round the venue…..Wow talk about kicking off big style, the place went wild. Beer all over the place, people singing at full volume, dancing, moshing and generally just having the time of their lives. It was great to see and to be honest the first time since we came out of all this shit lockdown that I’ve felt this way, so alive, so full of the magic live music brings.
Thank you “The Fratellis” What a night, What a band but most of all thank you for bringing live music back kicking ass !!! Brilliant !!!
SET LIST
1/ Henrietta
2/ Baby Don’t You Lie To Me
3/ Imposters
4/ Whistle For The Choir
5/ Living In The Dark
6/ Yes Sir I can Boogie
7/ Flathead
8/ Stand Up Tragedy
9/ Ole Black N Blue Eyes
10/ I’ve Been Blind
11/ Vince
12/ Six Days In June
13/ Creeping Up The Backstairs
14/ Too Much Wine
15/ Baby Fratelli
16/ We Need Medicine
Encore
17/ Lay Your Body Down
18/ Chelsea Dagger
19/ Runaround Sue
FOLLOW THE FRATELLIS
FOLLOW CORELLA
Warren is a live music and festival photographer based in Cheshire and covers gigs/festivals mostly in the North West of England. He has been photographing live music for over 10 years and has covered major artists and festivals
