It’s always entertaining looking back through old magazines and seeing bands who had that buzz around them. That for six months or a year the music press were desperate to convince you that these were the real deal.
Some genuinely were but most disappeared, leaving you to wonder fondly `I wonder what happened to…?’
That question could be asked about either of the bands on this ticket, although only one is named and they weren’t who I had gone to see.
The special guests in question where Black Kids who for a while were just about the hottest thing going and who I got to see twice in a matter of months and then never again.
Club Academy was packed and, to be fair, there was also quite a bit of fuss being made about Sons & Daughters so it wasn’t as though they were being usurped by their support.
Black Kids had a boatload of catchy tunes, a single with an insanely memorable chorus and looked like they were having a whale of a time. A couple of months later in Liverpool they were equally as good in another tiny venue after which I literally ran into singer Reggie Youngblood as we both tried to go through the same door at the same time.
Graciously I deferred to his soon to be massive status and stepped aside. History shows I was within my rights to go first.
Sons & Daughters were a bit `meh’. It all seemed a bit obvious and by-the-numbers with songs that lacked the bite and wit of Franz Ferdinand with whom they shared a label.
See you down the front 
Once again I’m with you all the way. Amanda and I saw Sons and Daughters opening the only time we’ve seen The Decemberists. This was in Asheville and I struggle to remember anything about them now. Whereas the one LP The Black Kids made I have and it’s a classic that never fails to lift me up. I am now deeply envious of you seeing them live.
They’re another example of the hype machine in full tilt from the NME – back when the paper meant something and would never have featured as a savage-but-true one-liner on the new Sleaford Mods LP. I also got the hot pink 7″ of I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend which features a top cover of Sophie B. Hawkins’ Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover on the flip.
A great post as usual. You should start a series of ace opening acts that you’ve seen. I’ll see your Black Kids and raise you The Comsat Angels opening for U2 on the October tour at The Royal Court. I bought their new LP the next day and have been in love ever since. Ask Mark Kermode. He knows what I’m on about…