The Subways

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The Subways are in jubilant mood at a sell-out KOKO - the last leg of their UK tour before going on to Europe. Popular success may still strangely elude them, with their new themed album Money and Celebrity failing to make the Top 40. But the Welwyn Garden City trio know how to put on a fun live show for their adoring fans.

Surprisingly, in a pulsating 70-minute set playing 17 tracks, only five are from the new album, so that the evening is pretty evenly split with their previous two records. Whether this means The Subways don’t have that much confidence in their new material, or they think the public doesn’t, is unclear. But it seems unnecessarily modest, as even if it lacks the edge of the best of their early stuff, Money and Celebrity contains plenty of entertaining songs.

The gig gets off to a punchy start with crowd favourite Oh Yeah - everyone straightaway yelling out the chorus, followed by the grungy Young For Eternity. It’s not until six songs in that the band turn to the new album, with catchy, upbeat first single We Don’t Need Money To Have A Good Time, then the softer, romantic I Wanna Dance With You. The glam rock early single Rock & Roll Queen goes down a storm, while new song Celebrity hits the target. Encores include the explosive 1am and the rousing It’s A Party, bringing the show to a suitably celebratory climax.

The Subways' songs tend to be built around simple but effective chord changes with big choruses, and the band certainly put their instant appeal across in a dynamic way. Front man Billy Lunn has a natural rapport with the audience, complete with shameless exhibitionism and flattery, as he orchestrates section screaming and a mass circle pit. His scissor-kick jumping from drums and stage diving was topped with an audacious shirtless dive onto the crowd from a level two balcony.

Bassist Charlotte Cooper was not quite so athletic, but bounced around a lot on stage with long blonde hair flying and silver outfit sparkling, providing sweet backing vocal harmonies. While Josh Morgan gave the drums a good pummelling before kicking them over at the end.

There was certainly a lot of movement in the audience too, with plenty of moshing near the front and singing along all over the place. Their record sales may not be particularly impressive, but The Subways do not disappoint when it comes to creating a feel good, party atmosphere.