Travis is welcome back
House of Blues, Boston, April 26, 2009
Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz
The title of Travis' latest CD, "Ode to J. Smith," smacks of anonymity, maybe even dullness. Having gone their own way by releasing the music themselves after being with Epic since 1997 with "Good Feeling," one could have wondered if Travis would have slipped away unnoticed.
While the CD received generally positive reviews, Travis also shows that they are a force to be reckoned with in the live setting. The Scottish quintet played solid meat-and-potatoes sturdy pop rock songs. There was not a lot of flash throughout the 90-minute show by Travis, but they most definitely registered high on the quality gauge.
That starts with lead singer Francis Healy. Dressed in a black fedora and shirt, Healy is an excellent front man. He sings well with his voice easily heard above the mix. Much to his credit and more importantly benefit, Healy is a very affable leading man, very low on the ego meter. He's appreciative without being overly so, owns a keen sense of humor, joking with the audience without seeming canned. He joked about the microphone stand sounding like broken glass during the very fine Long Way Down. and demonstrated why he thought. He also mentioned having played New York the previous night. That's always dangerous in Boston, especially with the Yankees literally across the street playing the Red Sox. Healy asked if that was akin to Edinboro and Glasgow natives having a go at each other, joking that Glaswegians were called "soap dodgers" by those from Edinboro. At one point, though, near the end, he laced heavily into two apparent Scottish fans who were doing something near the stage to irritate the hell out of Healy, and he called them out big time saying they had ruined the show. Not to these ears, however). He fostered an air of excitement as well by wading into the crowd at one point.
The music proved easy to get into without feeling like you've heard it way too many times. It's easy to see why Travis is an influence on successors like Snow Play, although Travis is a lot less serious. Drummer Neil Primrose set a steady pace, while lead guitarist Andy Dunlop enjoyed some meaty guitar lines. Bassist Dougie Payne helped set the rhythm and occasionally aided on backing vocals or taking some lead singing lines. Healy is clearly the front man, but he would not have been able to do it without the rest of his band mates, and they more than ably filled the gaps. Selfish Jean and Closer were particular highlights during the regular set.
This was a show that ended real strong, especially the encore with Healy solo acoustic on The Cage before launching into Good Feeling with the rest of the band and then the catchy, anthemic Why Does It Always Rain and Flowers in the Window. Healy told the crowd the band would be back real soon. Based on this outing where no dullness was on display, Travis is more than welcome back.
