So 2 years later, yet another crop of bands have taken over, and The Futureheads and their sadly overlooked self-titled debut album sank without a trace. The Futureheads though aren’t going quietly and are hoping to put themselves back on the radar with a new album and tour.

However, both so far have received lukewarm reception (apart from the fickle NME crowd) and tonight, sadly, proves it.

The trouble with touring so quickly after releasing a new album, (‘News & Tributes’ only came out the previous Monday to this show) is that a lot of people won’t have had the time to listen or at least take it in yet. Thus, half of the set got little reaction because no one knew the songs. Not only that, but the new songs lacked in the enjoyable energy of the first album greatly. Sadly, (and I repeat that would be because I really enjoyed and believed in the first album) the set stinks of ‘difficult second album syndrome’. All the new songs fail to have the pace or fantastic pop melodies of the first album. Now, this is fine, but it clashes with the songs from first album in a fashion that can only be described as off putting. And even worse, it affects the songs from the first album too! Since the band are all focused on promoting the new, slower paced album, they end up playing songs from the first album just as slow!

But I am being harsh here; there are still some excellent moments to be had here. ‘He Knows’ and ‘Man Ray’ both sound as ecstatic and energetic as they do on record, and crowd favourite ‘Hounds of Love’ ensures a massive sing-a-long from the crowd (a disappointedly rare occurrence tonight).

It may have just been an off night, of course, but what it feels like is that the whole thing has just been terribly rushed. Both the album and the tour. And it’s a real shame because The Futureheads were one of the few bands that stuck out from the NME mediocrity; they remained unique and successful, and that is great. But when they were a renowned fantastic live act when touring the first album, you just can’t help but feel a little disappointed tonight.

Adam Turner-Heffer