We Love... Homelands 2003
Saturday 24th May 2003The Bowl, Matterley Estate, nr. Winchester, Hants., England MAP
£49
Daily capacity: 50,000
From the moment they steamed onto the stage, there was an energy about this band that was seriously contagious. Kicking off their set with the anthemic album track, "Go Junior, Go Senior", the band's distinctly un-cover-boy-ish front man, Jeppe (a.k.a. Senior), an overweight, moustachioed character with a penchant for brightly coloured sun-visors, soon had the crowd singing along with him at high volume. In the case of "Move Your Feet", the band members hardly needed to use their voices at all, so loud were the voices of a thoroughly enthused mid-afternoon crowd. This was impressive stuff!
The band's live presence is so awesome it's a little difficult to describe. Coming across as garage-rock, electronica and just plain old funk all rolled into one, this band are no one-hit wonder, as I was reliably informed by various people I spoke to in the crowd who had bought the Junior Senior album. All were raving about its kookily eclectic and strangely unmistakable sounds.
My personal highlight of their performance was their massively energetic cover of The Beatles' "Twist n Shout", breaking into a cover of Salt n Pepper's "Push It" which got the crowd going looney! This was serious party music for serious party people, and Junior Senior had the audience in the palm of their hand from the word go. If you get the chance to see Junior Senior play live, take my advice: just do yourself a favour and go and see them. The simple fact is that I haven't seen a live band this good for a very, very long time.
review by: Lynsey Haire
photos by: Robin Warren