With come-back kings Embrace selling out both King Tut’s and the O2 Academy in Glasgow earlier in the year, I was somewhat surprised to hear the band would be heading back to Scotland to headline Dunfermline Live. Attractive as that sounded my desire to attend the one-day event quickly became a necessity when I discovered the irrepressible Modern Faces would be supporting.
Hosted over 6 venues; PJ Molloys, Lourenzo’s, Life, Harlem, The Old Inn and Coady’s all within Dunfermline town centre the event boasted a bill with a near 50 artists performing. I found the attraction of artists such as The Mona Lisas, Vigo Thieves, Tijuana Bibles and The Velveteen Saints all highly appealing whilst I was also excited at the prospect of catching The Merrylees (after reading about their Paul Weller forest support slots during the summer) as well as former Seahorses front-man and successful solo-artist Chris Helme. Clearly with such an extensive line-up over 6 venues there were going to be a number of clashes and tough decisions to be made and unfortunately these were compounded on the day with my little boy feeling unwell. Consequently my arrival was delayed (a few hours at least) and while I did not get to hear all the artists I was wanted, I was still able to check out a number of artists over 3 of the venues.
First stop was PJ Molloys where AMWF were doing a fine job of entertaining a packed crowd. Keen to see The Merrylees, my visit to PJs was brief and I headed over to my second venue; Life where Medicine Men were in full effect. Catching the last few songs of their set I was impressed and enjoyed their performance. With time pressing and keen to hear Modern Faces once again, I was left looking at my watch far too often in the lead-up to The Merrylees taking the stage. Instantly the Merrylees impressed, both looking and sounding the part. Having checked out the band on-line, I had a fair idea of what to expect but was ultimately more than impressed with their live sound that reminded me at times of The Stokes. Despite really enjoying the material on offer, with 20:00 hours approaching I needed to head over to Lourenzo’s to see for myself if Modern Faces gig at the Alhambra Theatre a few months back had been a one-off or if they could deliver in such a commanding fashion once again.
After running over to Lourenzo’s and climbing what appeared a never ending stair case the ferocious energy of Modern Faces and the noise of their fans hit me once again smack in the face! ‘Pravda Scrolls’ a track I had loved back in April at the Alhambra was blasting out with singer Monty once again leading the charge like the lads lives depended on it.
Making my way towards the front, I was quick to discover there was no ‘Photo-Pitt’ and with such a packed crowd and the somewhat tight stage engulfed in blinding lights I realised that tonight was going to prove challenging if I was going to capture any shots of the band. By the time ‘Cynical Brother’ and ‘The Dance’ followed I was tempted to give up on the photos and purely enjoy the victorious atmosphere as Fife’s favourite sons continued to tear up the place and take the crowd to another level.
For me, ‘Rock n Rolla’ was once again immense and as the crowd continued to chant “Mo-dern Faces, Mod-ern Faces” between songs I franticly tried to capture some photos. Following ‘Rock n Rolla’ the Modern Faces lads were joined on stage by a brass section and delivered ‘Gun For Hire’ and then recent single and a track I absolutely love ‘Matter Of Time’. As singer Monty snarled “all I know..its a matter of time” I reflected to myself about how good these guys actually sound live and how fitting a song title this is for Modern Faces who are clearly destined to replicate this local success to a wider mass. Fan favourite ‘Lufthansa’ appeared to bring the show to an end before the band finally bowed out with ‘No Mans Land’. Once again Modern Faces had conquered and I hope to see them delivering their magic outside the Kingdom of Fife in the near future.
Feeling somewhat drained and sapped of energy I headed to the bar for a Red Bull and as I chatted to my cousin I wondered how Embrace would be received by the crowd with many of who appeared Modern Faces die-hards. Having followed Embrace since the release of ‘All You Good Good People’ back in 1997 and having caught the band a number of times live, it is fair to say ‘I am a fan’! That said, after the atmosphere generated by Modern Faces I was somewhat apprehensive about Embrace taking to the stage. Disappearing for a number of years, Embrace returned victorious (once again) earlier in the year with their fifth studio album and I get the impression the band themselves have been pleased with the response by their fans to both the album and the number of live shows and secret gigs the band have delivered.
Any fears I had were quickly extinguished with Danny and the band receiving a rapturous response from the crowd from the off. In actual fact, it appeared Embrace and the crowd just continued from where Modern Faces signed-off. Unlike Glasgow earlier in the year, there were no sound problems and Danny and band sounded great as the band made head-way into their extensive back-catalogue. Highlights were a plenty with classics such as ‘Good People’, ‘Come Back To What You Know’, ‘Someday’ and ‘Save Me’ taking the crowd into ecstasy. Danny appeared to be in buoyant mood literally swinging from the rafters as the band lapped up the adulation and applause from the crowd. Previous come-back track ‘Ashes’ had everyone in the crowd bellowing out their lungs whilst ‘Gravity’ brought a sense of calm back to the night as the band took a brief time-out before returning for a rousing encore including both ‘Refugees’ and set closer ‘The Good Will Out’. In reference to the latest album, tracks such the aforementioned ‘Refugees’, ‘Protection’ and ‘Quarters’ are rapidly becoming staples of any Embrace set-list and it is great to see Richard once again stepping-up into the spotlight (‘Hooligan’ next time please).
Driving home I reflected to myself, Embrace still have it as many will witness BUT those Modern Faces have it and are ready for the big time…NOW!
Bazza Mills
@bazzamills
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