Plain White T's

Plain White T’s (with support from Cartel and Boys Like Girls)
18th January 2008
Birmingham Carling Academy

It would be a mistake to view this tour as anything other than a triple headline tour. Plain White T’s admit this was the best line-up they’ve ever had, and they’re not wrong. Both Cartel and Boys Like Girls are on a similar level to PWT’s in the US, and if it weren’t for the song ‘Hey There Delilah’, any of these bands could headline this tour.

Cartel unfortunately start early in order to satisfy the curfew, meaning the majority of the crowd were outside and so didn’t get the full offering Cartel had to give. This didn’t appear to faze them and they clearly had a core group of fans who’d arrived early to see them. Their experience as a band was obvious; the music and vocals were spot on. They had the audience’s attention from the beginning, clapping and quietly singing along - an impressive thing to do considering most people were probably at this sell out show due to the radio play of ‘Delilah’.

Boys Like Girls provided enough excitement for a headline band, with people clapping along to the drum testing and as the lights went down the screams were audible enough to suggest this was the main act. And they behaved as such. Johnson is a formidable front man, charismatic and comfortable on stage. He interacts with the crowd and promised to “get this party started”. The mixture of acoustic and anthem songs had the worry of copying PWT’s, but they proved to be able to play songs with a frenetic energy and a paced-down soulfulness. They hope to be back in the summer, and if so, would definitely be a band worth seeing on their tour - they stole the show.

PWT’s set started with the new single ‘hate (I really don’t like you)’. Moving through the current stuff, it was easy to see most people knew the latest album better than the others. Yet it’s worth seeing them live to see the continuity between Every Second Counts and All That We Needed. The heavy drumming on All That We Needed is placated and though the songs are certainly less poppy, they don’t sound as generic as the album makes them out to be - live ‘Breakdown’ sounds like homage to Bon Jovi. The newer stuff certainly is more polished - Figure It Out sounds 60’s inspired, and audience participation favourite Our Time Now sounds like New Found Glory mixed with a sugary Fall Out Boy.

Their set did illustrate that they’re a highly polished band, too polished if that’s possible. The band has less presence than Boys Like Girls, but their music was performed with great accuracy. ‘Hey There Delilah’ opened the encore producing a mass sing-a-long and camera recording. Clichéd as it may be, this song really cemented their set and the final song Take Me Away couldn’t be more fitting “I know we just got here but I think it’s time to go…”.

Plain White T’s, Boys Like Girls and Cartel are all typical of the genre they inhabit. They do not attempt to push the boundaries of their sounds, but they do put on one hell of a show, and it’s all thanks to ‘Hey There Delilah’ - love it or loath it.