WORDS AND IMAGES SAM HOLT
Travis, a Scottish band formed in the early 1990s, took the stage tonight at Bristol’s Beacon venue. The current lineup includes Fran Healy on guitar and vocals, Dougie Payne on bass, Andy Dunlop on lead guitar, and Neil Primrose on drums.
They’ve enjoyed a successful career, but most people remember songs from their 1999 album The Man Who, which I believe won the Brit Award for Best Album at the time. For this evening’s show, they are promoting their most recent album, LA Times, as part of the “Raze the Bar” tour.
A young Scottish lad provided the support act tonight. Hamish Hawk, the vocalist, has a unique crooning singing style that complements his songs. The majority of the set was from his third and most recent album, A Firmer Hand, which was released just a few weeks ago. He and his band played a great version of the title track before speaking with the audience about “what a thrill it was to be in Bristol,” which came across as heartfelt. As the only support act tonight, he inquired a few times, “Are you ready for Travis?” and received a positive reaction. I enjoyed their latest hit, “Man on the Wire.” It was a brief set, but the band made an impression not only on the Bristol audience, but on me too.
The lights lowered a little after 9 p.m., and Travis appeared to the Cheers theme, opening with “Bus.” The majority of the performance was from their most recent album, but I noticed how well they blended new and old songs in what turned out to be a fantastic playlist. Between songs, there was a lot of conversation and interaction with the audience. I thought it was appealing how Fran explained that if you wave your arms from side to side, it acts as a human metronome. As they went on to play “Driftwood,” the crowd was completely hooked.
There was talk about how much Fran enjoys Bristol as a city, apparently second only to his hometown of Glasgow. Does he say that everywhere? Who knows, but the focus was on what a cool place full of good souls he thought Bristol is. It made a great introduction to the song “Good Feeling,” the title track from their 1997 album. The subject of songwriting came up, and how they feel the best way to write songs is from the heart, rather than songs designed for commercial success. With a sly comment—“imagine what it’d be like if Radiohead wrote Flowers In The Rain”—in jest, of course, they led into a song about his mother escaping from an abusive, toxic relationship, “Re-offender,” before playing “Side,” which had the crowd singing along with the band in fine voice. Fran was grateful when they helped him reach the high notes in “Closer.”
“Raze the Bar” featured Doug on double bass and was written about a famous club in New York called the Black and White Bar, where the manager went out of his way to promote artists of all kinds. The show concluded with “Turn,” during which Fran leaped from the stage, guitar in hand, into the photo pit, getting as close to the audience as he could—they loved it.
After a brief pause, the band returned for an encore, electing to ‘busk.’ More specifically, they joined Fran for a beautiful acoustic version of Flowers in the Rain. Rounding off the evening, after Fran took the soapbox and spoke passionately about his feelings, they closed with their ‘national anthem,’ “Why Does it Always Rain on Me?” And it did, literally, as I left the venue, albeit as a fine mist.
It was my first time seeing the band live, and it’s evident they enjoy playing live, praising the audience for keeping music alive. The Bristol crowd had a terrific night of music, and it’s clear this is a band that thrives as much on their audience as they do on their music. When they return to Bristol, as they’ve stated they intend to for many years, I am confident they will be greeted with enthusiasm.
SET LIST
1/ Bus
2/ Driftwood
3/ Love Will Come Through
4/ Alive
5/ Good Feeling
6/ Writing To Reach You
7/ Re-Offender
8/ A Ghost
9/ Side
10/ Closer
11/ Sing
12/ Selfish Jean
13/ Raze The Bar
14/ Gaslight
15/ Naked In New York City
16/ Turn
Encore
17/ Flowers In The Window
18/ Why Does It Always Rain On Me
FOLLOW TRAVIS
FOLLOW HAMISH HAWK
Returning to gigs and live music after a short break, and love being able to combine that with photography. For me I’m happy to make a road trip out for the right band/artist. I enjoy all genre’s of music, but a huge Gary Numan, Rival Sons and more recently Dirty Honey fan, but I’m always up for checking out all new music, and its just as important to catch support acts, during a gig, as one day they could be headliners themselves.
