May 17, 2000

Boston Berklee Performance Center

They could probably fart through the whole night and the crowd would whoop for more...

Before each show, Travis huddle and recite their mantra: "Out with the bad. In with the good." Tonight Fran Healy reveals that during the pre-show ritual, guest keyboardist Jeremy Proctor let the bad out with a fart. Well, it must have been a brutal one because Travis' glorious turn at Boston's annual 'Best Music Poll' is pure goodness.

Having just wrapped up their stateside stint propping up Oasis, instead of dozing into the home stretch Travis are priming the buzz for autumn's US headlining tour. They have set their sights on conquering the States.

With the opening battle hymn 'All I Wanna Do Is Rock' they proceed to go about it with their non-hostile, folk-rock stylings. And guess what, the sweet songs kill. The band is such top form, that they could probably fart through the whole night and the crowd would whoop for more.

Perhaps it is the perfect acoustics of the Berklee Performance Center, or the fact that the entire show is being webcast to the world, that makes the band so bang on. Whatever the secret, Travis seem to be enjoying themselves immensely and the good feeling is catching.

Bouncing through the older 'Good Feeling' and grinning through the radio-friendly mope of 'Why Does it Always Rain on Me?' with earnest confidence, Travis deftly manage to find the mid-tempo groove without going MOR. 'Driftwood' and 'Slide Show' glow with heartfelt warmth, and the new songs, 'Safe' and 'Coming Around', are assurance that the band has more where that came from. They play like they mean it.

Healy's voice is clear, a refreshingly earnest, sensitive sucker punch. That plus Andy Dunlop's for-the-rafters soloing, hip-shimmying bass licks from Dougie Payne, and Neil Primrose's bouncy backbeat are entirely infectious.

The encore is a rendition of the American bonus track '20' and a lovely Healy and piano only cover of Joni Mitchell's 'River', followed by The Band's 'The Weight'. Just to drive it home, they offer up an irresistible pogo-fest tear through 'Happy' and like that, Travis have successfully staged another American coup.