Reviews

It's always worrying when you check a website for information about a gig and read: "Although we are currently experiencing inclement weather in Thetford Forest, tonight's concert will go ahead except in very extreme circumstances."

Arriving at the glorious forest site, with a grey sky above, I was getting worried. It didn't help that a singer-songwriter was dying a very painful death on stage as people munched through their picnics.

The Hours

Happily, when The Hours appeared the clouds started to lift and people gingerly packed away their waterproofs and bust out some dance moves.

Bounding onto the stage, it's hard to imagine the troubled past of front man Antony Genn as he grins through his mop of curly dark hair.

The years touring with the likes of Robbie Williams have served him well and he seems at ease as the crowd slowly warm to the Northern lads. However, they leave me cold.

At times some of the material nearly has a foot tapping, but clichéd lyrics and an unshakeable similarity to Simple Minds leave me running to the hog roast.

The Hours appeared to win new fans

Judging by the roar from the crowd that signalled the end of their set, I'm very much in the minority and I think a few of the crowd will be adding their debut album, Narcissus Road, to their collection.

When Travis released their greatest hits collection in 2004, many people saw it as the end. The subsequent three years of inactivity didn't help to dispel this feeling either.

But fast forward to 2007 and Travis have a new album, The Boy With No Name, and a sellout world tour.

Unconventional entrance

As they make their way through the crowd bobbing and weaving to the sounds of the Rocky theme, it would appear the break away from the demanding mistress of the music industry has done them the power of good.

Launching into Selfish Jean from the new record, it's not just the strength of the music that strikes you, it's the massive grins that each one of the band has splashed across their face.

Turn your back on the band and the entire front row of the 6000-strong crowd shares the same huge smile.

Following this with another new song, Eye Wide Open, and then powering into writing to Reach You from their breakthrough album, The Man Who, sees the Thetford crowd bursting into song.

Won over

I thought Travis might be a tad twee, but their infectious smiles and surprisingly divining songs won me over and it wasn't long before I was singing along with the other 5999 gig-goers.

A rare steely moment during the show

The rest of the set spanned their entire back catalogue with highlights coming from their mountain of hit singles. Songs like Driftwood and Sing turned the crowd into Fran's own choir.

However, the highlight came from the 1997 single All I Want To Do Is Rock.

The last song could have only been one song: Why Does it Always Rain on Me?

As the crowd filter out tired but happy they have to be thankful that tonight Travis only got one thing wrong - it didn't rain!

^{Photo credits: Lee Allen.}