Live Review
The Academy Is…
@ The Cockpit, Leeds.
Drummer The Butcher leads out the majority of Chicago based The Academy Is… to a chorus of cheers and screams, and the hysteria is further heightened as front man William Beckett takes centre stage as they begin their set with crowd favourite ‘Neighbors’. Throughout the hour long set William Beckett plays an active role with the crowd, crouching down to be on eye level with those crushing to get to the front, he even ends up being half dragged into the audience halfway through ‘Almost Here’. His stage presence is something, he manipulated the crowd with a simple twist of his wrist or at times thrashing the microphone stand around on stage as if it had wronged him the night before, however not once did he seem overtly arrogant or above those in attendance and the intimate venue.
Behind the focal point that is William Beckett the other four members of The Academy Is… flex their creative muscle, seemingly happy to play a supporting role to William’s on stage charisma, altering little parts of well known songs such as getting as much feedback and distortion as humanly possible before launching into ‘We’ve Got A Big Mess On Our Hands’ and it’s times like these that cement just how much each member is an integral part to the band’s live performance; William would not be the front man he is without the other four members of The Academy Is…
The most surprising and pleasing moments of the evening was just how well the tracks from Fast Times At Barrington High translated to the live stage, songs such as ‘About A Girl’, ‘Rumoured Nights’ and ‘After The Last Midtown Show’ sounded more heartfelt, intimate and richer than they did on the CD, proof to show that The Academy Is… really do want to make their live performances something that will live long in the memory of every fan in attendance. They did not solely stick to tracks off their latest album; their sixty minute set encompassed songs from all three albums, with old favourites such as ‘Attention Attention’ and ‘Classifieds’ off 2005’s Almost Here getting a very large reception as well as tracks off 2007 release Santi, something which other bands seem to distance themselves from at times.
Overall The Academy Is… never threatened to disappoint, and the chance to see them in a venue as small as ‘The Cockpit’ surely won’t be around long. With a band as energetic, heartfelt and superb live, bigger things surely await the Chicago based five piece.
Chris Boothroyd
(photos by Chris Boothroyd)
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