At Red Rum Club’s final hometown shows of the year, they proved that a band can evolve while keeping in touch with what made them great in the first place.
A giant horseshoe provides the backdrop for Red Rum Club’s final outings of the year. Tonight they take Camp & Furnace, Saturday is the turn of The Olympia.
They are back home in Liverpool but bringing a flavour of the States to Merseyside.
With frontman Fran Doran wearing a denim top and Michael McDermott sporting a baseball shirt, they make no bones about the American influence on their latest album, Buck.
These songs were “inspired by our journeys across the Midwest,” proclaims Doran, referring to the band’s stateside tours, most notably with The Wombats.
The title track of said fifth LP opens the show, following support from talented modern Celtic group Brogeal.
Buck bucks the band’s trend – no pun intended. Distorted guitars and a protruding drumbeat make for a grittier sound, a style they maintain for much of the album.
This sextet are versatile, though, and didn’t acquire their fanbase through heavy rock ‘n’ roll; Red Rum Club’s fans were sucked in by their melodies and energy on stage.
Follow-up track American Nights & English Mornings is arguably the standout song from the new album, as it combines the new Red Rum Club era with the catchy melodies of their earlier days.
While the band’s recent tour has been named after the album, Buck, they made sure to give the crowd what they wanted on their return to Liverpool.
Songs from every era of the group’s discography were belted, with fans treated to Honey and TV Said So, the latter being played live for the first time in four years, according to fan favourite and trumpet player Joe ‘the blow’ Corby.
Eleanor, Dorado and an unexpectedly dramatic rendition of Brando followed from their second album, which put them on the map as an indie group with a hint of Americana to take seriously.
Something that adds to the lure of Red Rum Club is the fact they sit somewhere between cool indie rock and pop.
Love Me Like You Wanna Be Loved is a long way from Buck on the musical spectrum, but the band manage to fuse both into the set without a jarring moment.
For some frontmen, signing the word ‘love’ with your fingers and gesturing for the crowd to copy would seem cheesy. However, frontman Fran pulls it off thanks to the atmosphere and versatile brand Red Rum Club have created around their music.
Other showstoppers, such as Kids Addicted and Vibrate, populate the rest of the set before Hole In My Home leaves the senses tingling as the band head off stage to the sound of hundreds singing acapella.
The show was far from finished there, though, and the re-entry was slick; Doran and McDermott performed an acoustic version of Eighteen while the others slowly took their places for the final three songs.
Angeline was up next, then it was time for Would You Rather Be Lonely?, one of the greatest songs a music-lover can experience live.
Usually, they finish on this anthem, but the Buck tour has seen them change things up to culminate their gigs with Vanilla, a tune that has steadily grown in popularity since its initial single release in September 2022.
The people went home – or out, as Doran encouraged – energised and full of life.
Like all great groups, Red Rum Club are evolving, but they haven’t forgotten why they became so popular.
Tickets are available for their next headline show in Liverpool, at the Pier Head on June 19, here.
Mersey Music 