Drunk. Disorganised. Unprofessional. Three of the reasons why the Augustines’ concert at the O2 Academy in Oxford this week is one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen. There’s something different about small venues. They’re more intimate: the band are preaching to the converted. For this reason, it didn’t matter when there were technical issues, the band just got up on stage and did crowd sing-alongs, sometimes unaccompanied.
In fact, crowd interaction was what made this gig so special. Augustines are renowned for their passion on stage, particularly frontman Billy McCarthy, who had enough charisma alone to make up for the solid, if uninspiring, support act and his own band. However, no matter how good a band are with their fans, after a 100 show tour, halfway across the world from home, no-one was expecting the band, feeling their curfew was too early, to descend onto the streets, fans in tow, to finish the gig with an impromptu acoustic set. As the band wandered through throngs of adoring fans, it was a feeling you simply don’t get watching a band at Wembley Stadium or even the o2 Academy in London – you couldn’t get within 2 metres of the band if you tried at one of those venues, never mind the band actively choosing, bottle of Jameson’s and cigarette in hand, to come and stand in the middle of you and play requests.
As if this weren’t intimate enough, the band proceeded to lead us to the Library pub down the road (with Billy as the proverbial Pied Piper), where they played a final couple of songs, before thanking the bar staff for being so accommodating and hanging around to have a pint and a chat with fans. You could be forgiven for thinking, if you’ve made it this far through the review, that this gig sounds a lot like a succession of gimmicks, and perhaps to a certain extent that is true. It didn’t matter though, simply because, even all that aside, it was a phenomenal musical performance. The mark of a great performer is often that they seem to be enjoying the concert more than the fans who’ve spent their hard earned money on buying tickets, and this was evident in the case of all three members of Augustines.
Anyone who knows their music at all will know that it is incredibly emotional, and is often semi-autobiographical, so the sight of Billy McCarthy on the verge of tearing up on stage only added to the performance. In terms of the setlist, their concerts have only been strengthened by the release of a second album, which transfers incredibly well to live performance (Cruel City and Weary Eyes especially), since they can now devise a setlist devoid of any filler. All in all then, this concert was unique, like something from an age gone-by, and whether it would have had the same effect on an ambivalent observer I can’t say, but for any fan of Augustines, this was an incredibly special and unforgettable evening.
