May 22, 2001

Travis : Stockholm Gota Kallare

Travis kick off their European tour with a low-key gig in Sweden...

No matter how sad the song or how woeful the singing might be, with Travis there's always a glimmer of hope shining through like a beacon. And on this chilly evening in one of Stockholm's smaller clubs, filled beyond capacity, the crowd go pretty much bonkers over the band from the get-go.

Justifiably so, one might add. For more amiable a group than Travis would be hard to find - having, as they do, the enviable gift of being able to produce an almost buddy-like rapport between themselves and the audience within but a few moments of entering the stage.

In accordance with what was pre-announced, they concentrate mainly on songs from the forthcoming album 'The Invisible Band', among them opening number and current single 'Sing', the chirpy 'Flowers In the Window' (featuring the 'competent banjo-stylings' of Andy Dunlop) and the thoughtful 'Dear Diary'.

But whilst new material makes up for half of the sixteen songs, there's still room for the tunes which have brought them this far. Besides 'Why Does It Always Rain On Me?' and 'Turn', nice enough versions of 'Driftwood', 'Happy' and 'Coming Around' are put on the table. But more than halfway through the show you can't help but wonder, what would happen if they traded in up-beatish for the genuine article and really kicked things in to gear? As with Travis's albums, you can only take so much of them balancing on the rim between ecstatic joy and bottomless sorrow. It's like a tease: it's fun up to a point, but past that point it's do or die.

Douglas Norstrom