Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The sweat had barely time to dry off in the 02 Academy from the previous night’s storming gig by Big Country than the re-emergence of one of the most popular and endearing bands of the last decade, The Fratellis, stoked up the pressure cooker inside the venue and the keen excitement felt by all spilled over and added further to the party atmosphere.

If the night was a reintroduction to the band after a an implausibly long time away then the simple act of removing a towel from the front of the drum kit to reveal the band’s name sent the audience into apoplexy. What the three men made of the reception they were greeted with by the capacity crowd perhaps will never be told but a few seconds into the opening track it was possible to see a broad grin on the face of guitarist Jon as he looked down at his pedals. If a gesture can speak a thousand words, then this was more in keeping with a best-selling novel spread over 600 pages.

There is rumoured to be a new album out at some point and the way in this return was greeted, it’s fair to suggest it will be as well received as the first two Fratellis’ offerings. For the band though they must have revelled in the appreciation shown towards their established hits and insanely catchy tunes. The temperature inside the Academy kept creeping upwards and it certainly took a bit of a bashing on those not used to attending rigorous gigs and above it all the three superb musicians gave all assembled a rigorous and fantastic time.

With tracks from the debut album Costello Music, its follow up Here We Stand and the aforementioned couple of new tracks including the superb She’s Not Gone Yet (But She’s Leaving) and This Old Ghost Town thrown in for good measure, this was a gig that had everything. Songs such as Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night, Doginabag, My Friend John, the eclectic and loveable Vince the Loveable Stoner and the impressive Cuntry Girls and City Boys, there surely would have been nobody left out of what was a superb evening.

Sometimes bands go away, some way too soon and they struggle to ever get back the impetuous again, It’s not a problem that The Fratellis are going to have.

Ian D. Hall