The Manchester based band came to Birmingham as part of their tour for their newly released album “Anna” and what a fantastic gig this was. It all started off with the atmosphere outside pre concert was amazing. People from all age ranges were there, the young to the old. Weller haircuts and Pretty Green was everywhere you turned, in every nearby local boozer to the O2 academy.

As we walked into the venue, it was my first time in the O2 academy in Birmingham, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. A massive floor area, with two large bars, charging a staggering £4.15 a pint. I’ve had worse days I suppose.

When The Courteeners walked out, they were greeted with a huge cheer and the chant “Liam” was shouted numerous times, as he prepared to start the gig off, with “Are You In Love With A Nation” – From that moment on, the moshing begun and the crowd sung along to every lyric.

The set list consisted of songs from their three albums ‘St Jude’, ‘Falcon’ and their most recent one ‘Anna’. They played a real mixture but everyone song had the same enthralling impact on everyone of the crowd…

The sellout crowd just went crazy! I moved towards the bar and everywhere I turned Mods aged between 30-50 every, dancing around, knocking into one another. The atmosphere was like that throughout the whole gig, which gave everyone even more of an adrenaline.

Throughout the night Liam Fray (The lead Singer) was really interactive with the crowd; spoke often and repeatedly thanked everyone for their support in buying the albums and turning out tonight. I thought this was a nice gesture as Fray is known for his gobby antics.

The highlight of the night had to be the last three songs. It started off with Liam Fray strumming his acoustic guitar, instantly the crowd latched on and knew he was building up to the moment when he would play “Bide Your Time” and when he did, the roof nearly came off. Even the people on the balcony were standing and dancing to the track.

The he swapped over to his electric guitar for the final two songs. Firstly, he addressed the crowd and said: “Birmingham, it’s Saturday night, let’s do it” everyone started cheering along, even people who were stood at the bar started going mental and rushed forward. Everyone was on their feet as they rattled through Not Nineteen Forever.

Then if that wasn’t enough, with sweat dripping off everyone’s faces, it was time for the final song of the evening – “What Took You So Long?”. It was the song everyone had been waiting to hear because all night in-between each song, there was a chorus of cheering geared towards the chorus of this song.

As I left the venue, everyone was still chanting and clapping their hands. It was a great night in Birmingham and well worth the price of £18.50 for a ticket. I would definitely recommend going to see them in the future…

Sam Lightle