Keep The Village Alive
“There’s no mistake, I smell that smell, it’s that time of year again” opening lines from ‘Local Boy in the Photograph’ and early single for The Stereophonics in the 90s, and it's played quite early in the set tonight like it’s a new track with all the verve and vigour of youth. It’s so close to Christmas, there is a peal of a bell and that Christmas tree smell, and it’s the last night of the ‘Keep the Village Alive’ tour and so there is tinsel, glitter and showbiz to be had, all crammed into a 2 hour plus set in the enormodome of the capital.
Tonight is sold out, so that means thousands of fans are here to witness a career spanning set-list with the likes of 'C’est la Vie', 'I Wanna Get Lost With You' and 'Song for the Summer' as recent singles alongside the classics of ‘Thousand Trees’, ‘Just Lookin’, ‘Bartender &The Thief’ and the aforementioned ‘Local Boy’.
The Stereophonics are a band I have seen many times over the years, and I put them in the same camp as ‘Placebo’, ‘Suede’ and ‘Manic Street Preachers’ as great 90’s rock/indie bands that are guaranteed to deliver that competent, rehearsed, polished performance, almost effortlessly.
The downside of having that constant quality is mid-set when the slower tempo numbers come in, you can find yourself drifting away, I caught myself making mental notes about last minute Christmas shopping when ‘Mr Writer’, ‘Have a nice day’ and ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ are turned out in a regulatory fashion, and there is a risk here that Kelly Jones and his merry men need to structure their set-list with a bit more punch, but there is no doubt that the throng of people crammed in here are lapping it all up like cats in a dairy.
Jones himself is still a trim fella, leather jacket, skinny black jeans, thick cropped jet black hair, aging very well - must be something in the Welsh air, although he’s hardly bouncing around this massive stage, and whilst he will crack a smile and a joke, he’s not breaking into a sweat anymore.
Highlight of the show is when I’m taken back to a song I haven’t heard in years, and it's Jones on his own singing ‘Traffic’, a breathtaking pure moment of acoustic guitar and gravel voiced bliss, almost topped by ‘Handbags and Gladrags’ cover, complete with a small strings section of ladies in white.
The showbiz moment arrives in the form of Jones inviting another Jones (No Welsh jokes please) - Tom Jones on to the stage, only for Rob Brydon to walk on and apologise for Tom’s absence as his “Mama told him not to come” cue comedy sing-along intro moment, and sure enough as it’s pantomime season the band oblige.
The streamers, giant bouncing balls, singalong moments are all there, ‘Dakota’ predictably bringing the event to a close, and you leave feeling fully entertained, all warm and Christmassy fuzzy inside.
