I have followed Delays since I lived in London in 2003 - Xfm were playing Long Time Coming on fairly heavy rotation, and I was inspired enough to invest in the debut album Faded Seaside Glamour, and its 2006 follow-up You See Colours. Delays are often bracketed as psychedelic-indie pop; this was true on the basis of the first album, although the second disc was a lot more electro-pop. The gig was part of the promotion for their new album Everything's The Rush, which I have yet to get hold of (actually, I didn't even know it was out until about a week before the gig).
I always wondered whether they would be able to transfer their sound onto the live stage, and they did not disappoint. Aaron Gilbert, often described as the "keyboard whizz", actually stands behind a sequencer, which means that he can control the keyboard sounds, including the soaring strings that characterise much of Delays' songbook. Opening with Long Time Coming, the start of the gig was unfortunately hampered by the fact that lead vocalist Gregg Gilbert's microphone was not turned up high enough, a problem shared with bass player Colin Fox, whose backing vocals were equally inaudible. Thankfully this problem was rectified during second song This Town's Religion.
After a familiar start, Delays then started playing some of the new songs, comprising a good two-thirds of the set. Delays are distinctive because of Gregg's vocals, which veer between a gravelly rasp and a sweet falsetto (it was months before I found out that he wasn't a girl!), but Aaron shares lead duties on a couple of the new songs. The new songs are more obviously commercial than the old stuff, which tonight included Hideaway, a storming rendition of You and Me (much stronger than the album version), and set closer Valentine (an absolutely brilliant song which you might know from Match of the Day).
Although I suppose I am biased, I was really impressed with Delays - they were tight, the rhythm section of Colin Fox and Rowly were impeccable and also looked cool, and they seemed to enjoy themselves, despite a relatively lukewarm audience (largely due to the fact that not many people had heard of them!).
After a wait of an hour or so, Athlete came on and had more support from the crowd. I am a casual fan of the band - I liked a couple of the singles from the first record, I bought the second album, but paid little attention to the last CD. They largely played the greatest hits, opening with Half Light, with Tourist, You Got the Style, and Hurricane getting a good reception - as expected, Wires provided the lighters in the air, standing on the shoulders type-moment.
Closing with Twenty Four Hours, Athlete were good value for money (or at least they would have been if anyone had to pay!). Although they are not quite my thing (Joel Potts' voice can grate on some songs), they are a very good live band; tight (despite having a stand-in bass player - regular Carey Willetts was on paternity leave) and putting in a decent amount of energy for a gig that falls steadfastly between albums. I particularly liked the contribution of sticks-man Steve Roberts, but I always was a fan of drummers...
Let's not forget the reason that we were here - a free music festival, laid on by Nottingham City Council with support from BBC Radio Nottingham and their music champion Dean Jackson (who is a judge for the Mercury Prize you know!). If I was to give marks out of ten, Athlete would get 7, Delays 9 and the gig itself would also get 9 - a great initiative to give music, for free, back to the people. Nice one.
I have put together a photo gallery from the day - click here to view the slideshow. If you hover over the picture and click on the "i", you will also see some explanatory captions.
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