Athlete : Manchester Academy, 10th October 2003

Four friends from Deptford who have known each other since the age of 14, perhaps it’s a shame that their writing style hasn’t changed much since then either. I always try to be open minded when seeing bands for the first time, but on this occasion I had a lot of difficulty working up any enthusiasm.

Comparisons have been made to Steeley Dan, and whilst I have to admit the keyboards were without doubt the most pleasing sound of the night it didn’t do much to liven up a dreary performance, and there was no evidence of the funky sleek guitar sound you would normally expect when such comparisons are made. I would suggest that they sound more like Tommy Steele than Donald Fagin! I even expected a rendition of ‘Knee’s up Mother Brown’ for the encore.

Beautiful, Westside, You got the Style were all received well by the audience who I have to admit seemed to be enjoying the show. Even I started to think things were getting better as they occasionally broke into the occasional instrumental, only to be disappointed 30 seconds later as the songs ended. My biggest disappointment of the night though was the duration of the performance. Athlete ended their normal set after 45 minutes, returning briefly for a 15 minute encore before rushing off stage. 60 minutes is surely poor value for any band.



A rendition of ‘Dungeness’ summed it all up for me and anyone who knows the East Sussex marshlands will recognise the comparisons. Bleak, dreary and far far better places to visit. For Athlete I suggest you think along the lines of the Commonwealth Games Bowling team rather than the Olympic relay squad. Rarely have I been so disappointed with a bands performance.