Los Campesinos - Live Review

Los Campesinos
The Social, Nottingham
1st March 2007
Live Review

After three years of hard graft, course work, work experience and endless revision. Los Campesinos have exchanged, hidden and sold their studying book s for guitars, drums and a violin. Now they are hitting the road and heading to Nottingham for their first (official) live show that kicks off their tour.

The stage is The Social, Nottingham where seven band members and a manager are all squeezed into what is allegedly a dressing room, but is the size of a small bathroom (mine is bigger). Upstairs it's nearly full with a crowd eagerly waiting to see what is in store.

Gareth and co start off with a high tempo version of The International Tweexcore Underground. There seems to be a real buzz around this band that play some really catchy melodies. Incidentally they do try to use every instrument that they can get their hands on, and if it makes a noise then they will use it. They naturally play both songs of there double A side We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives / Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s) (which you can download from their website). The band seemed in good spirits and carry on the night with some Los Campesinos classics such as Death To Campesinos. By classic, I actually mean songs you would have heard if you managed to get hold of any demos or kept tabs on their myspace.

Even better for the ever-growing Los Campesinos fan base, the band played an eleven-song set. Obviously all their time wasn't wasted on revision alone by the looks of things. As the night starts to come to an ever-nearer end the Los Campesinos crew pull out You! Me! Dancing! out of the hat. The clincher to the night is Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks, which leaves everyone leaving The Social happy and looking forward to anything new that is yet to come from this magnificent seven.

Just from pure hearsay up to date, this band can do no wrong so no doubt the band are waiting for the fall. The fall being that Los Campesinos are in affect a 'student' band and therefore have a massive student following and that may put a lot of people off. What should be said to these people is judge the band on their music NOT there following.

The Full Set List is as follows:

The International Tweexcore
Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Backbeats
We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives
Death To Los Campesinos
Drop It Doe CHECK UP THE REST
Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s)
.And We Exhale And Roll Our Eyes In Vision
Knee-deep At ATP
You! Me! Dancing!
We Are All Accelerated Readers
Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks

Mark Moore