Barfly, 14th May

It’s the eve of The Great Escape Festival and what better way to see in a weekend of revelry and frolics than a pre-festival party with those American indie-pop rockers We Are Scientists. Tonight’s gig kicked off their stint in England for the festival season and the atmosphere inside the Barfly could only be described as sweaty. The temperature rose as an eager audience awaited the band’s arrival; the venue was rammed and members of the crowd who were lucky enough to stake their place in front of the stage were poised and ready to dance.

The band was hailed with screams of adulation as they took to the stage and launched into a barrage of fresh-sounding indie classics. The crowd bounced along in delirious unison whilst singing along to every tune. Aside from the awesome music, there’s the added bonus of frontmen Keith Murray and Chris Cains’ idiosyncratic chit chat which takes place in-between songs; their quick witted humour and interaction with the audience is an integral part of their live shows. We Are Scientists aren’t afraid to make a fool of themselves; in fact they encourage it. Despite their musical success, these boys have their feet firmly on the ground; it’s the lack of clichéd rock star personas which make their music so believable.

In modest nature, the group abandon the traditional encore routine and finish the night off with their original sing-along anthem ‘The Great Escape’. We couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the festival weekend.

Words by James Watts
Photographs by Robert Thomas