Who
The Supernaturals
Support
George Hennessey
Where
London Paper Dress Vintage
When
23rd November 2019
Price
£15.00
Who with
No-one
Position
At the front, in the middle!
Comments
The Supernaturals were my seventh and final concert of 2019 - plus the yet to be reviewed Kraftwerk at Bluedot Festival! - which was a surprise considering I started my year of gigs with British Sea Power in August and went through my longest barren period since perhaps the interval between my first and second concerts ever in 1997-1998! I was thrilled to discover that The Supernaturals had very quietly reformed and released the ace 360 album, and I also hoped I'd get to watch them live again, not realising that it wouldn't be until they announced a couple of headline dates for their 5th album Bird Of Luck that I'd finally get my chance. I snapped up my ticket straight away as I was very doubtful that The Supernaturals would ever revisit Birmingham after the appalling crowd reception they'd received last time in the face of their near-perfect show. It had been a stonking 18 years but I've never quite forgiven the second city for that! They did some support slots on the Starshaped 90s nostalgia tours and I'd been keeping a close eye on their Facebook page, and I booked into a cheap hotel near Wembley Stadium and nearer the time I pre-booked train tickets also. Alarm bells were ringing when the guys switched the venue from Islington Academy to a place I'd never heard of called Paper Dress Vintage, which had a capacity of around 100 people versus the 800 originally booked. It's a sad state of affairs when only 100 people in a city of 9 million people can be arsed to watch perhaps the finest pop band of the 1990s who are responsible for the greatest debut album of all time, and even more frustrating when you factor in that some/many of these fans had travelled from outside the city in any case! I'm still fuming from when my former mate refused to see them back in 1998 because they sing about tea cosies, then a few years later he got me into Badly Drawn Boy anyway!

As The Supernaturals are Scottish they fortunately retained a bit more interest in their home country, as the companion date to this at Glasgow King Tut's was for a capacity of 300, which I trust and hope was an instant sell-out! This show ludicrously had tickets available up until the last moment, but nevertheless I was still very excited and, preparing myself for some new tunes, I listened to their albums in reverse order. On the morning of the show I packed and had to skip my morning swim to ensure I had enough time to prepare, and as the local trains were fucked I had to drive into Wolves and park my car at work. At least by needing to walk through the city it gave me an excuse to stop off at McDonald's, and as it was still fairly early I got the breakfast wrap instead of the cheaper wrap of the day. I also got some unnecessary chocolate in, and had to pay attention to my table manners so I wouldn't tarnish my classic 1997 Supernaturals t-shirt, which against all the odds is of such excellent quality that it still looks like new! Despite the localised chaos I must say that the train ride was ultimately fine, and it gave me an opportunity to read the script book for Harry Potter And The Cursed Child too, an embarrassing 11 months after watching the two-part play in London! It was actually a pretty quick read, and I decided that I couldn't bring myself to plough through a copy of The Quran that had been foisted upon me despite my trying to decline, as it looked heavy reading in any case! I also stayed on top of my internet, and upon arrival I quickly got the Overground train to Wembley Central from Euston.

I was staying at the Premier Inn right by the stadium, which must have literally hundreds of rooms, and I showed up around 1:30pm, which was pretty late considering that I was intending to get to London quite early and do some activities. However the guy behind reception was a complete fuckwit and wouldn't check me in, saying that there were no rooms available and that I wouldn't be able to check in until 2pm! Now time was getting on and I had shit to do, so even though I really wanted to check in first I started to repack my large backpack so I could go straight out. But then this tosser fucked off and was replaced by a lady, who literally seconds after I'd been fobbed off started to check in the people who were behind me in the queue! So I rejoined the queue and resisted the massive temptation to scream at her when she tried to um and aah over if any rooms were available, and I'm just disgusted that the jobsworth couldn't just have told me that if I'd waited a couple of minutes that a room would have been available! Now I'm not big on online reviews so I've resisted the urge to complain directly, but I'll use the more niche medium of a Supernaturals concert review to say fuck you Premier Inn!! Time was running away from me so it's ultimately for the best that I hadn't tried to meet up with friends, and in fact I'd pre-booked to visit St Paul's Cathedral, as in a positive turn of events they've decided to stop being Nazis and to let people photograph the building! As I was well on my way to visiting all the cathedrals in England I was very keen to properly cross it off my list, although the ridiculous prior no photo policy distracted from the truth that it is actually an exceptionally bland cathedral, and the obscene admission fees for what is supposed to be a place of worship cannot be justified by any argument whatsoever.

However the view from the dome was excellent, especially as I had just enough time to explore the cathedral first and got up there for when it was getting dark, although St Paul's couldn't quite leave their dickheaded tendencies behind as the Whispering Gallery was closed and apparently is clinging onto a no photo policy, and a particularly committed Nazi tried to tell me off for taking one final picture when people were arriving for services just before I left, although it was very satisfying to get to mouth "fuck off" at him, as when I've had to pay £17 to get into a cathedral that should be free to visit I deserve to be treated like royalty! If I had a time machine I'd so love to go back to the 1500s and visit Old St Paul's and Old London Bridge, as the Nazi tendencies of the "new" Cathedral can't be forgiven, even if they have finally moved in the right direction. I had intended to visit the newly reopened Medicine Gallery at the Science Museum or Tower Bridge at sunset, but time was getting on and I just didn't fancy dashing around. I contented myself to wander around the South Bank a bit, getting my first glimpse of the Illuminated River project, with the first four bridges being lit up very pleasingly. I then got two tubes to the Taco Bell near the British Museum, which unusually despite being the main central London branch was a tiny premises with very few seats. I'm fortunate that the people of London haven't yet realised the glory of Taco Bell, as although it was busy I had no problem getting a seat, enjoying the astonishing Triple Double Crunchwrap Supreme for my first time ever. I also took full advantage of the refillable soft drink, and was in a happy yet sober state as I got my connection to Hackney Central.

As I departed the station I could see the venue immediately, and I think that the door time had been switched from 6:30 to 7pm. As it had only just hit 7pm I decided to wander to find a pub, hitting the jackpot by finding Verdant Brewing under one of the nearby railway arches, and enjoying two quick high-quality beers. As it was busy and since I was alone I hung outside in the smoking area, being briefly harassed by a hobo as a result, but just like the Paper Dress Vintage venue they had moved away from cash and insisted on card payment, which is great as it's so much more convenient for everyone, and in positive contrast to the annoying places that insist on cash only. For me the main appeal of cash is the fantastic array of special 50p/£2 coins, and if it wasn't for them I'd have very little motivation to cling onto the old school method. After drinking, chilling and reading more internet I took the short walk back to the venue, which had a clothes fashion display outside but otherwise just seemed to be a normal bar and music venue. My paper ticket was for the original venue and was of little interest to the lady on the door, who instead crossed my name off a list and stamped my hand, and as the garden area outside was dark and I wasn't quite sure what was going on I ventured straight upstairs to the venue proper. The support act George Hennessey was onstage but it soon became apparent that he was only sound checking, and with his Reni hat he looked very much a fan of The Stone Roses/Oasis school of music. After he was satisfied with the mix and vacated the stage I went to the larger downstairs bar and paid a (London) bargain £5 for a Hackney Pale Ale, which I was able to purchase using cash this time, in contrast to the upstairs bar which was card only.

I went back upstairs but the room was rather empty, although the classic "S" was on the drum kit, and I couldn't resist posting it on Facebook, even though I was well aware that barely anyone would know what it meant! I did have one former friend from Manchester University who was a massive Supernaturals fan and I wondered if he was here, but considering that the anti-social fuck had unfriended me on Facebook for no reason I'd probably have told him to fuck off anyway! There were a few seats and tables by the side of the small room so I sat down again and started drafting some notes onto my phone, being determined yet again to write this review up promptly, although it was another seven days before I wrote everything up properly. There was quite the indie vibe with the DJ paying Making The Most Of by Dodgy, which I'm shocked to now note that I don't have in my PC music collection! Also he played Generation Sex then Goldfinger by Ash, before the pre-gig music peaked with Play It Cool from SFA. In a rare turn of events a guy was actually friendly enough to start chatting to me, and he'd travelled specially from Chelmsford for the evening. He won brownie points by expressing admiration for SFA but his taste was ultimately a bit too landfill indie for me, although I was intrigued by his mention of a Supernaturals t-shirt which seemingly was based on the animated video for Sheffield Song. Sadly he wasn't wearing it and I can find no images of such a product! He had a point though when he stated that many people here had come by themselves, on one hand showing our commitment to the cause and on the other indicating the ignorance and unwillingness of others to embrace music on the word of their mates! I had to disagree with him when he said that The Supernaturals were depressing though, that opinion was bizarre. I mean, yes, their lyrics are very sarcastic, but musically they are the happiest band ever!

The support act George Hennessey reappeared and shockingly declared that this was his second show ever. He had two guys backing him and proudly was doing a full set of his own material, and his level of confidence and musicianship for someone with so little experience was utterly staggering. In a saner world where talented musicians could get their foot in the door and earn some attention he'd be a surefire contender, but I worry that his talent won't be picked up on. Despite having some swagger in his attitude he was also polite, thanking us for listening to him rather than just chatting, and I shot just the one video, capturing one of his backers shaking the tambourine and reminding me that he had no drummer. The song was ludicrously catchy and probably called Jekyll And Hyde, and as I write this I almost wonder if he was taking the piss in claiming this was his second ever show, as he seemed so accomplished. George was a bit like what the much more established Bill Ryder-Jones should have sounded like! During his final song I couldn't resist going to the loo at the back of the room, which was fetchingly decorated in old newspapers on the walls, and I also headed to the downstairs bar for a second beer, also clocking the massive Laura Palmer poster on the wall. I didn't see anyone else wearing a proper vintage Supernaturals t-shirt, although I did spy a couple which I'd suspect were from a Starshaped support slot, one of which was a crop top wore by a girl who seemed far too young to have been a fan of The Supernaturals at the time. As they amassed a glorious collection of pop classics the mystery is why their legacy remains so completely undiscovered, although it was nice to see that for a handful of us in this room, we really understood their brilliance. I stood at the front very slightly to the left, taking advantage of the quiet room which didn't fill up until near the showtime, which was unusual as the start time was advertised nowhere, but everyone psychically knew when to show up anyway!

The girls to my right also looked to be quite hardcore fans, but when you're a Supernaturals fan in the Midlands there aren't many opportunities to watch the guys play, so no wonder I had fallen behind a bit! The band quietly appeared and did some sound checking, then left and entered properly via the side door and through the crowd, to some rapturous applause. At least the fans who'd turned up were true believers! A setlist was given out in advance to one fan, and the band opened as I'd accidentally clocked they'd started with in Glasgow - with Everest! I'd thought this was a strange choice but it worked a wonder, as they unexpectedly reverted to the single version and cut it down a bit, which made it sound more dynamic and work brilliantly as an opening number. It was a wonderful singalong too and I shot my first video of the band, capturing quite muffled vocals as I was so close, and also the glare of the lights were on James's face throughout. Fantastically they sped it up at the end too, and it was a brilliant opener, so much so that when I redid my Supernaturals greatest hits compilation I made it the opener there too! It was most unusual that they hadn't played this in Birmingham, thereby missing a chance to reference the city in the city itself! As far as I'm aware there were just two original members, with James McColl apparently the only constant, as I'm reading now that bassist Mark Guthrie left the band in December 2000 and so wasn't present the first time I'd seen them! He was here now though, forming a brilliantly cool presence at the back, mouthing along to all the words and wearing a large hat and bright shirt. In a fairer world he would be a shining post-Britpop legend! The real shock though was that Derek McManus was nowhere to be seen, with a younger guy taking his place. Now Derek had contributed such wonderful backing vocals to their previous live show and was credited as being a member on the latest Bird Of Luck album, so I'm not sure if something has happened, or if he just didn't fancy playing live? I can't find any information online about this either!

The drummer Gavin Crawford was apparently the original drummer who'd left before The Supernaturals were signed, but he was back in the fold now, not that I could see him with James directly in front on me. Also there was a young keyboardist in place of Ken McAlpine, who'd left the group just before I first saw them in September 2001. It would have been wonderful if Derek was present and Ken was back in the fold, but James was the charismatic frontman we all needed, and he'd seemingly lost a lot of weight since I'd seen him on a TV performance a few years back. He also had some very fancy and expensive-looking effects pedals at his feet and was sporting some facial hair, but looking every inch the great unappreciated pop star of our time. The sound was incredibly loud too, so The Supernaturals beautifully bridged the gap between being pop and rock greats, and it is a disservice to call them indie, as that seems to have become a dirty word now, and for me the best bands were rock/pop in any case. The Supernaturals continued opening with the closers by then playing Trees, then launched into Negativity from the new album. First smash hit of the night was the classic I Wasn't Built To Get Up and I shot my second video, capturing the crowd singing along, and I was really tempted to jump around, but in a small venue it was unnecessary, and officially I've retired from all that anyway! James joked and asked how we were all getting on with their Scottish accents and if we could understand a word they were saying, then talked about a fan called Halloween Mike who has such a strong Glaswegian accent that even the band can't follow a word he says! Next up was Submarine Song, which remains a favourite of mine after their performance of it back in 2001. If The Supernaturals had hit the big time, stayed together and continued touring and making records it is frightening to think how much they could have achieved!

When the band declared that they were going to play Lazy Lover someone heckled for them to play one we all know, which really gave James the giggles, and it was wonderful to see them in greatest hits pop mode, playing to a very appreciative if insultingly small crowd. I shot another video capturing the band drawing out the intro a bit and Mark enthusiastically mouthing along, and it is a complete mystery how The Supernaturals could burst onto the scene with Smile, Lazy Lover and The Day Before Yesterday's Man and not become one of the biggest bands ever, as I really don't think any act in history have started their career so strongly. The band played Horse Song, which I clocked afterwards was the only representative of the 360 album, and before Smile they praised the guys from the Starshaped festival for putting on these two shows, firstly Glasgow King Tut's the weekend before and now this. Their commitment to brilliant music is commendable, and I really hope The Supernaturals can build from this, although I do worry that people aren't sufficiently exposed to their music for them to gain the acclaim they deserve. Perhaps their only real shot now is if someone uses one of their classic tunes in a massive film? There were two Starshaped guys there apparently, one of whom was on the sound deck to the left of the stage. At one point James coolly dumped the guitar and sung with his hands in his pockets, and just as the support act had done he complained about being thirsty, asking one of the superfans down the front to get him a drink, before the barman kindly obliged with a glass of water instead. An unexpected delight was Idiot from A Tune A Day, and I shot another video capturing a lovely bit of singing along and James making some endearing hand gestures to the lyrics. I cut off my footage just before it hit the loud bit, but I felt really privileged to be at the front for this, which would have been much more difficult to do if The Supernaturals had garnered the fame that they so deserve.

James also joked about the fact that they were playing in a clothes shop and made a joking comment about their being paid in clothes, and I shot another video for the excellent title track Bird Of Luck from the latest album. It's hardly like the bangers of old but nevertheless is a lovely pop moment. My camera stayed out for some muffled footage of Dung Beetle, which was touching and heavily rocked out, as was Sheffield Song, where there was ludicrous amounts of singing along to the refrain from the crowd. So much energy! Next up was the song that got me into the guys in the first place, namely The Day Before Yesterday's Man, and I captured some amusing footage at the start as James put his arms out and the band incorrectly thought that he wanted them to stop, but in reality he was just enjoying some hand actions. Derek's replacement amusingly dropped his tambourine several times to mark the drawn-out end of this pop masterclass, and it was just wonderful. I'd recently heard a single edit that was used in the official video where they drop the word "shit", but it had never even crossed my mind before that this is considered swearing! Next up was the classic but always overshadowed Love Has Passed Away, before James said that the set was coming to an end, and asked us if we could guess what song was next. Inevitably it was Smile, and I shot another video of the intro, first verse and chorus. It's an all-time great tune and even though all the biggest hits had already been delivered, as The Supernaturals left the stage we enthusiastically clapped and stamped our feet to get them to come back out. The band returned, walked through us and clambered back onto the stage, and it felt good to right the wrong of the fuck-awful reception that Birmingham had greeted their near-perfect show with back in 2001.

One fan had heckled for them to play Honk Williams earlier and James humbly questioned how the hell he even knew that song, but it opened the encore, and as Glasgow had also enjoyed it it wasn't the spontaneous fan request I'd guessed it was. James joked that they don't do requests anymore, and I shot another video, as James laughed and made hand gestures throughout, and it was a delight that people were enthusiastically singing along to an obscure b-side from a single released over 20 years ago. As many of the biggest hits had already been dispatched I was happy to accept whatever the band offered me, although I did feel a twinge of disappointment when they didn't sing Life Is A Motorway. Nevertheless, Let Me Know was a thrilling finale and they really rocked out as I shot a final video during it. The band sadly left the stage for the final time even though it was only a little after the original curfew time of 10pm, and annoyingly as I was too polite to storm the stage I didn't manage to grab a setlist to accompany the one I got the last time round. The other hardcore fans were quite shameful in taking them from the stage! Although it was a nice venue and I'd really enjoyed the two cans of beer I'd got - and I thought that the band may even be hanging around - I dashed off and got the Overground and Jubilee Line back to Wembley Park, drafting this review by my new method of sending text messages to myself. Wembley Stadium sadly wasn't lit up but there was a cool tunnel of light on the approach, and an even lovelier (if prematurely displayed) Christmas tree that was a triangle of light, and I was thrilled to walk inside as it made for a beautiful photo.

Even though my hotel bed was quite comfortable the room was rather cold and I got an appalling night's sleep, eventually going to bed after enjoying a few more tunes from The Supernaturals courtesy of my iPod. Also my ears were whistling as the set had been exceptionally loud, but it was absolutely worth it in any case! This was the first show in a good while where I'd managed to sing myself hoarse, I suspect that the last time I achieved this was for The Stone Roses. Due to the delight of seeing the guys again, the power of the show and set and also the enthusiasm of the crowd, I have to award this 9/10 and declare it the gig of my 2019, although that's partly because Kraftwerk didn't count as a concert but as a festival! Although the 2010's had been a fuck-awful decade for new music, and I struggle to believe that even enthusiastic youths of the time would ever think otherwise, it was a delight to round out the decade with a throwback to one of the great bands of my teenage years, and to feel vindicated that I stuck by them when no-one else was a fan, demonstrating that I'm proudly a true individual who ultimately values quality over fashion. The set wasn't as long as King Tut's where they'd played You Take Yourself Too Seriously, What We Did Last Summer and I Don't Think So in the encore, and sadly the third album had been ignored completely, and perhaps even worse the 360 album had also been largely snubbed. Tunes like My Sweet George, Air Hostess, Zombie and Control Me should be live set mainstays, although I guess that the guys were giving the fans what they wanted by sticking to the old favourites? The next day I visited the National Maritime Museum and its Moon exhibition before popping into Southwark Cathedral, which was one of the many attractions I'd resisted doing in a rush on the Saturday night. It is sad that The Supernaturals may never be recognised as the pop geniuses that they are, and the depressing lack of interest when I posted some wonderful video footage of Smile on Facebook demonstrates the ignorance they have always been up against. But for me and a few other smart fans in the know, their status as one of the greatest pop bands of the 20th century is undiminished.
Setlist
Everest
Trees
Negativity
I Wasn't Built To Get Up
Submarine Song
Lazy Lover
Horse Song
Well Well Well
Idiot
Bird Of Luck
Dung Beetle
Sheffield Song
The Day Before Yesterday's Man
Love Has Passed Away
Smile
Honk Williams
Let Me Know

Mark: 9.0/10