We Are Scientists @ The Great Escape

Audio, Brighton - 16 May 2008

by Jon Fletcher

Secret Scientists show surprisingly successful

"Far from feeling staid and exclusive, the whole show is easily visible from the neighbouring bars and from the road outside, drummer Adam Aaronson acknowledging the cheers of the crowd on the pavement by hurling a drum stick in their direction"

All pictures, Jon Fletcher

At last year’s Great Escape we went to a ‘secret’ performance by the Happy Mondays. The event was organised in the name of T-Mobile, the festival’s sponsors, who had filled an end-of-pier pub with an unholy mix of obsessive competition winners and disinterested industry poseurs. The band’s performance was solid but perfunctory and the show left a nasty, corporate aftertaste.

It is not without reason, then, that we approach today’s exclusive We Are Scientists show at Audio with some trepidation. The band are to play perched upon a specially erected outdoor platform in front of a tiny crowd of 100 – again, an odd mix of jubilant fans and industry bods. On the face of it, this show – organised by Levi’s under their ‘Ones To Watch’ banner – promises to be another example of why brands and bands don’t mix.



Except everything about the show is excellent. The band is in typically wry humour, singer Keith Murray and bassist Chris Cain opening the comedy early on with predictions of what might happen should their elevated stage collapse. The sound is spot on, despite the outdoor setting, testament to the hour long sound check before the show. And far from feeling staid and exclusive, the whole show is easily visible from the neighbouring bars and from the road outside, drummer Adam Aaronson acknowledging the cheers of the crowd on the pavement by hurling a drum stick in their direction.



Even those inside are attentive, though it’s difficult not to be captivated as Cain recreates the noises of the monsters in Aliens on his bass guitar. The set list includes old favourites ‘Cash Cow’, ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt’ and closes with ‘This Scene Is Dead’ - a funny, warm, engaging crowd pleaser from start to finish.

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