Smugglers Run @ O2 Academy 13/03/09

Having sold out Academy 2, it was at first underwhelming when Smugglers Run took to the stage. Amidst random strumming, frontman Liam Bardell greets us with the question ‘Ever done it…up the Smuggler’s Run?’. Vague innuendos aside, what follows is a lot of chaotic, feedback strewn noise, which is perhaps the intent for this introduction. But it surely isn’t meant to go past this and into the first few songs of their set.

Beyond this, things definitely improve for the Sheffield Hallam student foursome, with them showcasing new material that shows some potential, and introduces some more interesting song structures to their arsenal. It is when they slow down that everything becomes much tighter. Although this is not what is demanded by the crowd, a great deal of which is quite apparently made up of band members’ friends, who heckle and share in-jokes with them throughout. It is quite clear they are here for a party, and the stripped down numbers do little for them compared to the thumping rockers. Amidst all the commotion, Liam treads a fine line of playing anchor to the band, at times in danger of losing control on themselves and the audience, and playing the rock star himself. This is at times a little overplayed given the status of the show.

The highlight of the set is ‘Black’, which the band have inexplicably not played ‘for the last six months’. Shame on them, it shows a direction that they would be wise to explore, evoking The Cure at their most brooding. The last two numbers are favourites of the crowd, and by this point the band are finally found in their element, ‘Please Die Carefully’ in particular, with charming lines such as ‘we hired a caravan in Clacton, where nothing really happened/so we went into a town, where the beer was watered down’ showcases the quirky side of their songwriting. At the end, Liam exclaims ‘I want to do this every night for the rest of my life’, and you can only hope that they can network well and continue to channel their exuberance for their upcoming tour, even though that dream seems a fair way out of reach at this stage.