The Spin Doctors are currently touring their debut album Pocket Full of Kryptonite, and tonight the New York City locals bring their alt- rock to Liverpool’s O2 Academy 2.
It is hard to believe it is the 20th anniversary of the Pocket Full of Kryptonite album, but it is, and that makes me feel old.
It also means the band are older too, and it is strange when you are accustomed to seeing a band look a certain way - the image of four grungy men in their twenties- then they come on stage and it is fast forward twenty years.
But, they are still looking good on it; particularly guitarist Eric Schenkman who has an engaging demeanour.
Anyway, the song most synonymous with the album - and probably the Spin Doctors in general- is Two Princess, yet the band are much more than just this one song and watching the band live reiterates this.
They play the album in sequence from beginning to end; of course there are the better known songs like Two Princes, Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong and Jimmy Olsen’s Blues- and it is the line in this song in which the album title is taken from.
But there are also songs that are equally as good including: What Time Is It? which is a funky but yet chilled out slacker number. There is also Shinbone Alley, which as singer Chris Barron explains is about New York back in the late eighties when the city was going through a crack epidemic, and that anything and everything could be stolen to sell for crack.
The Spin Doctors are prone to jamming sessions throughout the set which beautifully highlights their musical talents, whilst Barron looks on and admires his band mates playing.
Although, Barron is no-bystander his voice still sounds as good now as it did twenty years ago and he is an entertaining front-man, who delivers fun banter with the audience.
He also has some pretty nifty moves for a man who must be around forty; he is especially fond of doing high kicks-which most can-can girls would envy –impressive.
The band are also very appreciative of their audience as Barron says “ without you guys this would just be a rehearsal” which is nice, but without them we’d just be looking at an empty stage - so it goes both ways.
The band, that is the original line-up, seems to be very much enjoying being together and touring the album. And the audience- which consists of more mature folk right through to people who were probably only just born when the album was released- have thoroughly enjoyed this reunion of American alt- rock; let’s hope the spin doctors return to our shores soon, as they re most definitely worth catching live.
Cologne Girls Choir to join girl choristers from both Liverpool Cathedrals for unique concert
(Tue 22/05)
Liverpool Music Awards 2012 Launches
(Tue 22/05)
Post a comment