REVIEW: Embrace, Live at Liverpool Royal Court, Sept. 10
- Tim Kennedy
After an interval of relentless techno and the opening band (Delakota), Embrace took the stage and immediately found a highly receptive crowd. In fact, it soon turned into an evening of almost revivalist proportions. The band's well-known mix of anthemic emotive ballads mixed in with punk rock appeals strongly to an audience who sprang up overnight after the cataclysmic explosion of Oasis onto the music scene, and who clearly have an unsated appetite for the same now that their idols have departed the stage. The crowd were 100% teenagers, of equal parts both sexes and danced ecstatically or waved their arms frantically, with screaming erupting periodically. They bellowed along to the words as well.
It detracts from the show when singer Danny Macnamara apes Verve's Richard Ashcroft with repeating "come on" arm-waving and shouting. The Verve were a singularly overrated band who frankly can't hold a candle to Embrace in terms of songwriting; Macnamara should try to work on a more original stage persona. The crowd hardly needed any such encouragement - they were already ga ga. Tracks such as "Now You're Nobody" are other indications that Danny is a fan of the now-departed whingers from Wigan, as does "Fireworks" which is like "The Drugs Don't Work" - but much better.
However, the band put everything into their performance and actually add a little to the songs from the album, emphasising the fact that their debut album is probably the best this year. Danny overdoes it a bit with the Yorkshire bonhomie - they're definitely from the posher side of Huddersfield.
His voice is in good form, though it has sometimes been pointed out as a weakness of the band. Brother Richard Macnamara's guitar work is also quite skillful, adding a distinctly more metallic dimension to their garage punk numbers.
It has to be said that their many UK critics are right about the Oasis similarities. At times the faster tempo material is scarily Gallagher-esque. This is not to criticise it because it is streets ahead of Oasis' recent stuff.
The mellowest of their ballads are almost in the manner adopted by ex-Take That members or even Elton John. They seem unconcerned at being the prospective acceptable face of UK alternative rock. Surely even the Salvation Army would laud their positive themes ("Say Yes") and their anti drink/drugs stances. However, the youthful Liverpool crowd had no qualms about the band at all. Embrace's weakness is none of their concern.
Usually the support band are fairly average and deliberately chosen to be so - no-one likes to be blown offstage. So, it was a surprise that Delakota were quite such a blast of fresh air in the frankly dingy and motheaten Royal Court. The singer with his shaggy blond locks is relaxed, ambles around smiling, his voice is clear and in tune, a mix of Tim Charlatan and Liam Oasis. The band play a NICE mix of garage punk, hiphop rythms and all sorts of other little hints of styles, plus the occasional sample. Competent yet sparky, they got an appreciative ear from the assembling crowd. By the end, having played their current single "Hey Cincinnati" - a more rock'n'roll version than the Beck-esque studio version - they left to deserved acclaim.
