GiggingNI.com

The Proclaimers

With The Vals;

After waiting outside for over half an hour to get in due to sound check taking longer than anticipated, one or two members of the crowd began to get disgruntled. That said the organisers and sound engineers done a great job of getting the show started at the specified time of eight o clock. The first band up were local four piece rock band, The Vals, formed in 2005. The band are taking the local music scene by storm, regularly headlining shows across the city and beyond. Their songs contain really catchy hooks and riffs and they have the perfect balance between soft melodramatic songs like their hit single 'Yesterday, Today' which is very beatlesque and some more lively upbeat songs like 'Smile', which produces a few bobbing heads and tapping feet but at 8.15pm in the evening, I can't say I expected much more. They also performed a great acoustic performance of their song 'Things Will Always Be The Same', which left a jam packed Spring and Airbrake in complete silence and awe. Every song they played got a great clap and cheer and as far as first impressions go. I'm very impressed by these guys, they put on a really great show and they were the perfect support band for a band like The Proclaimers.

When The Proclaimers were introduced to the stage the roof absolutely lifted, with cheers and screams for the band now in their 26th year of touring. Throughout the course of the evening they played all of their hits, including, 'Letter from America', which reached no.3 in the UK charts in 1987, 'I'm On My Way', 'King of The Road' and of course 'I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)', among many other classics. The atmosphere at the gig was fantastic from start to finish and the whole room was buzzing and it couldn't have been far off a sell out crowd. The classics mentioned above obviously received the greatest response, with literally everyone at the gig, clapping, dancing and singing along - including myself! 'I'm on my Way', which featured in the film Shrek, got a great cheer from the audience and a song I'd never heard before entitled 'Sean' got a great cheer from the women at the gig due to the lyric "I'll tell you now that grown men cry and Irish girls are pretty" - which was fun. The band finished their set with 'I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)' which as expected got the whole building shaking. Everyone was on their feet, dancing, singing and many were filming the antics from the crowd. Ehe song ended and everyone went nuts, chanting for an encore which the band thoroughly deserved! They came back on and played two or three more songs including 'King of the Road', which like all their other songs got a huge cheer from the amazed crowd.

I think it's fair to say that The Proclaimers are one of the best live acts I've seen in a very long time and they sound every bit as good live as they do recorded, if not better. They are an unforgettable band to witness and I'm glad I got the opportunity to see them. If you ever get the chance to see these guys then go and see them - you won't regret it!