Lit, Nottingham Rock City
With bad weather lashing the UK at the minute, what better band is there to provide us with some sun-fuelled music than Lit? With an impressive back catalogue and a big sound, Lit were in a prime position to rock Nottingham with ease. This date, the second of a very low-key tour, was one of the bands first UK appearances in over two years. It was clear from the large turnout that people had been eagerly awaiting their return.
First however, it was the turn of support band, Jesse James, to take the stage. It did appear a strange decision to have a ska-punk band supporting Lit, and the response of the crowd reinforced this view. I don’t think I saw more than ten people dancing at any one time. Jesse James aren’t a poor band by any means, they are all talented performers. Their main problem is that they don’t yet have the songs to stand out in a very overcrowded genre.
Lit took to the stage to a warm welcome from the Nottingham crowd and launched straight into new album opener, ‘Something to Someone’. This was followed by two more great songs, ‘Over My Head’ and ‘Zip-Lock’. However, at this early stage it was apparent something was lacking from the performance. There was no zip to ‘Zip-Lock’ (sorry!). Or, to put it bluntly, Lit were going through the motions. There was no pace and energy to the songs. This trend continued until mid way through the set, when the band did a brief disappearing act.
Jeremy Popoff was first to return, showing the crowd his party piece of playing a tune whilst downing a bottle of beer. As if by magic, Lit suddenly transformed themselves into the great rock and roll band we all knew they were. A. Jay’s characteristic vocals were now in full swing, sounding particularly impressive on ‘No Big Thing’ and new single ‘Lipstick and Bruises’. The band then rounded things off with a superb version of ‘My Own Worst Enemy’ that had the crowd jumping like madmen (and women).
The band encored with two more songs, most notably last song ‘four’, which was performed to a level you wouldn’t have thought possible at the beginning of the set.
So Lit did indeed bring a bit of sunshine to a rain-soaked Nottingham, it’s just a shame that for half the set, the sun was obscured by cloud!
Mark
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