I can easily say that the venue, one of the smallest of eighteen on the tour, was also the smallest venue I have ever been to for a gig, making for an interesting night. That venue was Cardiff University Students Union' in the Y Plas nightclub.
Typically before gigs I have attended in the past, such as Arctic Monkeys and Bombay Bicycle Club, the queues for the gig will stretch down long roads hours before the doors actually open. With this in mind, and never having visited this venue before, my boyfriend and I arrived at five with the doors opening at seven. Now began the tedious wait, by ourselves, with less than ten other's company. This, however, meant that we made friends with lovely people before the nightclub even opened which also bagged me free cans of cider, so I cannot complain, can I?
Finally the doors opened but still the venue seemed very empty in comparison to how full to the brim venues typically are, leaving me anxious and hoping for a great crowd. With support from the likes of Vigo Thieves, Blossoms, DMA's, Circles and Circa Waves on the tour, Cardiff were greeted by five piece Stockport band Blossoms. Regardless of the fact no one in the crowd, or so it seemed, had heard of the band, I was pleased by what they produced, which they personally refer to as "Ethereal Nostalgic Sonance". If you are partial to a bit of psychedelic rock then I would definitely give them a listen - I for one have since downloaded their stuff!
However, it was clear that everyone was here for Courteeners. It seemed as though twenty minutes before the boys came on, new faces flooded the room and soon everyone was squashed together with little space, as is expected. The audience was largely made up of males, with females, like myself, scattered here and there. By this time I had myself a firm place against the barrier. Unfortunately I am too short and weak to be in the middle of a crowd amongst the moshpits and fights. With a predominantly "football fan" audience, it was simply football chants galore!
From looking at their setlists from previous nights of the tour, I was anticipating an opening cover of The Smiths' 'How Soon Is Now?', an absolute classic. I was quite disappointed by the fact they didn't keep to tradition on this particular night, however The Smiths' original did play whilst we were waiting for the band to come on stage. This drew a huge singalong from the crowd, and let's be honest, nothing is quite as satisfying as shouting "YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH" at the top of your voice in unison with hundreds of other people. Instead they opened with one of their new songs 'White Horses' which some people knew the lyrics to but not all - thus not the best start! However, soon they were playing old hits such as 'Cavorting' which quite literally had everyone "cavorting and snorting their way through the band". The crowd was incredible! Beer (and other unknown liquids) were thrown and everyone was having an insane time with many wearing the classic "Can you play guitar my boy can you fuck" t-shirts.
Soon, however, Liam Fray, the band's lead singer, was having vocal troubles and hence called for a back-up to help him. Having a quick break he took to take photos and share hugs with some members of the crowd. In spite of this, he fought on like a soldier, bringing beautiful solo acoustic melodies, like the crowd request of "Smiths Disco" (a fantastic song) and one of my recent favourites "Sunflower". Finishing with two of their most famous songs, taken from their first studio album 'St. Jude', "Not Nineteen Forever" and "What Took You So Long?", it was clear to say everyone had a wicked night. The "oooh" refrain of the latter echoed throughout the building even after the band left the stage. This exact same chant occurred when I saw the band for the first time at Leeds Festival this summer (though I only saw the second half of their set as the first half was spent watching some of Paramore's set).
All in all a great night was had by everybody. I genuinely could not recommend seeing the band live enough - or if you had not heard of them before now, I URGE YOU TO LISTEN TO THEIR MUSIC! It may not be for you but it is worth a shot.
Stars out of 5: 4
P.s. I apologise for not using a photo of my own from the night for this post (I just wanted a high res image) - if you are an avid gig attender, you will know good photos are very difficult to achieve and obviously not your main priority. Despite this, Liam Fray actually posted a photo I took of him on his Instagram and admittedly I fangirled just a little bit.
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