Keeping Some Dark Secrets

On Friday night we (well, one half of us) were fortunate enough to catch Johnny Foreigner’s set at Clwb Ifor Back as part of SWN Festival 2009. Playing the main upstairs room, the band followed strong sets by both Talons and You Animals who we highly recommend you check out, the latter of which later returned to play extra guitars & drums on Salt, Peppa and Spinderella and The Coast Was Always Clear, and are a band we’d put good money on supporting Johnny Foreigner at a later date. The band rattled through the same setlist that they’ve been playing all tour, with the addition of the birthday song casio interlude. Both Feels Like Summer and Criminals were well received by the crowd, which I’m told was about double the size of when the band last played in Cardiff, though the highlight in those terms was Salt, Peppa and Spinderella which prompted a small mosh pit(!?) and got the rest of the crowd dancing, although we much preferred the return of Sometimes, In The Bullring and Champagne Girls I Have Known. The new (we say new, we mean songs from Grace and The Bigger Picture) songs were delivered superbly, becoming noticably more watertight as the band’s grown in confidence playing them, with Every Cloakroom Ever sounding like the anthem it could become, and More Heart, Less Tongue making a solid conversion from on record to a live setting. We did take some video from the latter 2 songs mentionned, however the quality is so abysmal (sorry Jay) that it wouldn’t do either anywhere near justice to publish it (that’s if you could even tell what was being played), so you’ll just have to check them out for yrselves soon. Perhaps at Rough Trade tomorrow (7pm, free entry!) , New Slang in Kingston on Thursday (which will be Super Tennis’ last London gig before they go on hiatus) or on their Dark Harbourzzz tour in November. If it’s the latter, we’ll look forward to seeing you there!

Johnny Foreigner Played:

Intro
Yr Just Jealous
Feels Like Summer
Sometimes, In The Bullring
Every Cloakroom Ever
Choose Yr Side And Shut Up!
Illchoosemysideandshutup, alright
Salt, Peppa and Spinderella
More Heart, Less Tongue
Champagne Girls I Have Known
(graces)
Criminals
The Coast Was Always Clear

Filed under: Johnny Foreigner by Luke