"More. Again. Forever"

That’s another band off the bucket list; Courteeners at London Olympia was a very enjoyable experience and very well organised show. Supported by the Snuts and The Coral all three bands put on a show that will remain in my memory for a very long time. Courteeners have been around for a while, way before I ever got into music and released their first album in 2008, St. Jude. I have always wanted to see the Courteeners so when I saw a gig of theirs pop up there was very little hesitation from me and my dad to purchase the tickets.

We set off from Cambridge at around 11 am and made our way to Walthamstow Central where we then caught the tube to Olympia; where the gig was taking place. The venue was huge, a lot like the Birmingham N.E.C but very easy to get around. We had a cheeky Pizza Express before making our way to the main hall where the gig was taking place. There were at least 15 to 20,000 people attending the gig. The first band called the Snuts came out and I’ll admit I knew of their existence but had listened to nothing by them. They were very enjoyable and are definitely worth the listen if you are a fan of indie/rock music; I could see why Courteeners wanted them as a support.

The next support band The Coral came on after a brief interval; The Coral have been around since the late 90s and are a well-known band in the indie genre. I saw them not too long ago support the Manic Street Preachers at Manchester Arena and just like they did that night they impressed everyone. Courteeners gig had a very high population of teenage fans which is pretty standard for an indie rock gig, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the audience in its entirety enjoying The Coral; especially when they played ‘In the Morning’ and ‘Dreaming of You’. It was nearing 8.45 pm and the audience was rearing for Courteeners to come on stage, the place was buzzing.

Courteeners entered the stage and began the nights set with arguably one of their best songs ‘In love with the notion’. The moment the song began the place went up in an explosion of singing, dancing, jumping, moshing etc. Flares went off in every direction, mixtures of green and red smoke filled the air, people on each other's shoulders. Courteeners gig was very different from other gigs that I have attended in that you just don’t get a break. Every song they played was well known and at least 8 out of 10. Courteeners did a mixture of songs from their 6 albums one of which hasn’t been released yet ‘More. Again. Forever’.

Songs from St. Jude (2008) were ‘Cavorting’, ‘Bide Your Time’ and ‘Fallowfield Hillbilly’ which were all fantastic. ‘Bide Your Time’ is one of my favourite songs by them and went down a treat. Instead of there being one mosh pit, there were loads of little mosh pits all around the place merging; the place was bouncing, drinks going flying every time a new song started. I think my dad was slightly annoyed that they didn’t play ‘the Opener’ from the album ‘Falcon’. They played three songs from their new album that they are yet to release which I wasn’t a fan of, to be honest. It was possible to do with the fact that I didn’t know the words so couldn’t fully enjoy them.

My favourite album of theirs is Concrete Love (2014) where they played two songs from it ‘Summer’ and ‘Small Bones; ‘Summer’ is my favourite Courteeners song. The place went mental when they began singing that, everyone was dancing and hugging from then on. I was extremely happy to hear that live! Other songs they played such as ‘Lose Control’, ‘Smith’s Disco’,’The 17th’, ‘Modern Love’ and ‘More. Again. Forever’. ‘Modern Love’ was amazing and had the place rocking from left to front; I got sucked into a pit. ‘More. Again. Forever’ was a brand new song they had released before the gig and the name of their new album, the song was outstanding. I know I said the other new songs were my cup of tea but hearing that makes me think I may be wrong about their new album.

The final two songs ‘Not Nighteen Forever’ and ‘What took you so long’ were incredible and one of the highlights of the night. ‘Not Nighteen Forever’ is by far the Courteeners best and most well-known song and the song that most people listen to and then listen to them more. When that started a mosh pit so big formed that it ate up the entire venue, there were even more flares going off than before, it was spectacular. And finally, they ended the night with the bands first ever single ‘What took you so long’ which the audience loved. Unfortunately, I did have to depart half away through that song as it was a long trip home for me and my dad and we wanted to beat the traffic of people departing from the gig also.

In terms of talent, Courteeners rank above the likes of Two-door, the Kooks, Catfish etc. they just have that little something about them that those others don’t. The gig was excellent and Olympia is a great venue to see a band you love in so I thoroughly recommend it. Courteeners are outstanding live and again I thoroughly recommend you go and see them if you ever get the chance. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this blog, Peace.