Messed!Up
It was 1999 and Travis had just released their second album The Man Who a couple of days earlier when I popped over to The Forum in London with a friend after work to see the band play for the third time. My bud Tom was already a long-time fan and played their first album Good Feeling at every party in his flat, and I was frankly a bit tired of the band – but that was all on Tom, it wasn’t the band’s fault.
I still remember when we swung by our favorite record store in Soho on the album release day for The Man Who for a listen and I got the feeling ‘Hey, this is a breakthrough album’. And it was. With The Man Who Travis’ name was on everyone’s lips for years to come and they followed up with – if you ask me – an even better album two years later when they released The Invisible Band. The year after The Invisible Band, in 2002, they did an amazing set at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, and that was the last time I was at a Travis show – until tonight!
It may have been two decades since the release of their landmark third album The Invisible Band but I think it’s unfair to say they haven’t done anything worth listening to since 2001. The Boy With No Name (2007), 12 Memories (2003), and Everything At Once (2016) are all great albums even if they didn’t reach chart-topping positions as their previous albums did.
Tonight’s venue, Docks in Hamburg, is full of fans who, including me, have our peak performance years behind us but we’re people who grew old with Travis and knew all the songs expressed in frequent sing-alongs throughout the night. And Docks is full of expectations!
Travis walk on stage to the tunes of Cheers theme song “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” and start with the best song off their latest album L.A. Times, “Bus”, before frontman Fran Healy points out that they will play a lot of older songs as well before the band thrust themselves into the epic “Driftwood”, continues with the banger “Love Will Come Through” (from their fourth album 12 Memories) before returning to L.A. Times and the song “Alive”. In between songs, Healy gave a speech on how important it is for people to come out and pay to see bands at club venues and not only for Taylor Swift-sized shows in this day and age when club venues are undergoing hard times. And then we started the walk down memory lane.
Healy explains that Travis first album isn’t The Man Who and that they’re going to play three songs from the album. Many people don’t seem to know that Travis released Good Feeling in 1997, a good folk indie pop album (but an album my friend Tom made me hate) that didn’t get much attention. After “I Love You Anyways”, “Good Feeling”, and “Good Day To Die” off Good Feeling the night took a turn when they played “Writing To Reach You” from The Man Who. In the middle of the song they did a Travis classic and made a smooth transition to a cover, and people suddenly realized they were singing along to Oasis’ “Wonderwall”. From here to the end it was a magic atmosphere at Docks and two beers and “Side”, “Sing” and my all-time favorite “Turn” later I was ready to leave – and got an encore with the brilliant “Flowers In The Window” and Why Does It Always Rain on Me?”.
Although the tour is about L.A. Times, they don’t play as many songs off the album as I was expecting. Sure, people always want to hear a band’s hit songs but L.A. Times isn’t a bad album. It’s an album where they show off their craft and creativity as musicians. But who am I to complain when I get to see all my favorite Travis songs performed live? This was a lot more than I was expecting from the night! And boys, I just ordered a copy of Good Feeling.
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Photos: Sophie Dobschall
