Returning to touring after a three year hiatus of sorts, the Ordinary Boys hit the ground running, delivering a frenetic and powerful set at Islington’s O2 Academy last night. As he stepped foot on to the stage, the band’s front man, Samuel Preston (a.k.a Preston) addressed the audience excitedly with the words “Hello 2004”, recalling an era which was arguably the band’s hey-day.
Featuring three new members in Dane Etteridge on Guitar, Dan Logan on bass and Toby Horton on Keyboards, the Boys’ new line up delivered a set that was hugely exciting from start to finish, due in part to playing songs mostly from the band’s first album, Over the Counter Culture, which Preston himself acknowledged, albeit a little sarcastically, as the best material the band had written to date.
Opening with the raucous Over the Counter Culture, the first track from their eponymously titled first album, the Ordinary Boys had the audience from the off, and it was immediately clear that this tour was about what made the band great in the beginning, and celebrating that with its hardcore of fans. They therefore proceeded to play an endless slew of fan favourites, with Week in Week out, Maybe Someday and Talk Talk Talk being particular highlights.
To ice the Christmas cake, the band rounded off their performance with an impromptu version of The Ronettes’ Sleigh Bells, a bouncing and energetic cover of The Specials’ Little Bitch, and finished up nicely with a classic of their own: Seaside.
With charismatic front man, Preston, seemingly back on top form, giving 110% to the delivery of every song, while at every opportunity jumping into the audience to mingle with the fans, the Ordinary Boys could have easily gotten away with playing a set of b-sides that would have no doubt still befitted the raw power and energy of their early exploits as a band.
With this revitalization, the Ordinary Boys seem reenergized to do it all over again, and based on the response of the audience last night, that can only be a good thing.
In support was young band The Brassic, who delivered a short and energetic set, concluding with a cover of The Small Faces’ Whatcha Gonna Do About It.
Following them was The Heartbreaks with a set that seemed to deviate a little off the course of the evening but was nonetheless blessed with a few stand out tracks that, had the Ordinary Boys not followed, would have been somewhat memorable. However, The Heartbreaks appeared to be a band of individuals and lacked the same kind of camaraderie displayed by the two other bands on the bill, which seemed to contribute to a degree of disinterest amongst the audience during their set.
Check out Music-News.com's exclusive pre-show interview below.
