“Sing” by Travis is one of the best songs ever written. My OCD-self has been obsessed with making lists for most of my life “the best 100 songs”, “the best “100 movies” etc, as well as going through any lists of that kind that I can find online. It always hurts me when I come across a “best songs” list that doesn’t mention any of Travis, as their catalog deserves more recognition than it does in my humble opinion. Although I have been listening to this band for as long as I can remember, I was yet to see them live. This issue of mine got resolved on January 28th when the band stopped by The Wiltern as part of their Raze The Bar tour.
Crossing the country alongside the Scottish band to open for them was Akira Galaxy who took the stage a little before 8pm. I wasn’t familiar with the LA-based singer, so I listened to her What’s Inside You EP beforehand and I really enjoyed it. Being a huge (dare I say massive) Massive Attack fan, I also appreciated her “Teardrop” cover (another one that should be on any “best songs ever” list). Akira (yes, it is her real name by the way) was accompanied by another musician on stage who handled drum programming, guitar and synths. She performed her entire EP, along with a couple of new songs that have yet to be released. Her stage presence was incredible. She danced and moved across the stage as if she was telling stories with her movements. I was clearly not the only one enjoying the show, as the audience cheered loudly after each song.
Around 9pm, the lights turned off again and Travis got on stage. The first thing that caught my attention were the visuals. A large red circle on the backdrop screen almost made it look like a movie sunset. While the band members got situated on stage, we could only see their silhouettes moving in front of the circle. Throughout the night, the circle remained, but the color changed to match each song: blue waves during “Driftwood” (“You’re driftwood floating underwater…”), green for “Side” (“The grass is always greener on the other side…”), you get the picture.
Early in the show Fran (vocals) addressed the recent fires that have affected us Angelinos. Although some of the band members still live back in Scotland, Fran has settled in LA several years ago. He shared how glad he was that all of us were sharing this moment despite the situation we had just faced. The city of angels is actually the theme of their latest album, released in October last year LA Times. The new material made up about a quarter of the setlist, including my favorite song from that album “Bus” which was the opener. This gave them plenty of room to sample from their whole discography as they played songs from seven out of their ten studio albums.
The guys’ energy on stage was beyond anything I had anticipated. Especially Fran and Andy (guitar & keyboards) who are both running on high voltage and displayed contagious energy. I appreciated that the orange-haired singer took moments in between songs to introduce the coming up track and explain how the song was written or what it was about. He introduced “Good Feeling” as the first “F U song” he ever wrote after a breakup when he was younger. Or “Re-Offended” who was inspired by his mother who had the bravery to leave his father who was an abusive man. Another thing I love about Travis is that each song is different from the other, it can be light and joyful or dark and melancholic.
Personal favorites “Sing” and “A Ghost” sounded fantastic. After a short encore break, the band came back to give us a last few treats, including a “…Baby One More Time” Britney Spears cover which was amazing and got the whole venue singing. Travis is such a classic band and I cannot believe it took me this long to finally catch them live. The band released a new EP “Avalon” a week prior to the show, proof that there is no sign of slowing down for them. They will keep putting out good music and hitting the roads. I highly recommend catching them next time they stop close to you.
TRAVIS
AKIRA GALAXY
Photos + Review by Manuel Gay | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!