Little Man Tate - The Grand, Clitheroe, 14/10/2023

  by Dixie Ernill

published: 19 / 1 / 2024

Back in 2005 The Arctic Monkeys put Sheffield proudly back on the musical map as they burst in to view on the back of the MySpace revolution and ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ became an instant indie anthem. As a result, Little Man Tate who had been bubbling along in embryonic form in the same city for a couple of years, were snapped up by V2 and quickly followed The Arctic Monkeys into the charts the following year with a string of catchy singles leading up to a great debut album ‘About What You Know’. Sadly, the second album didn’t quite live up to the promise of the first, despite housing one of their best tracks, ‘She Looked Like Audrey Hepburn’, and the band subsequently bowed out on a high with two sold out hometown shows in the Autumn of 2009. Now they are back, with a new album to promote, for their first proper tour in over thirteen years and the good news is they sound as vibrant as ever and the new songs show a real return to their 2006 best. Despite Singer Jon Windle sporting some form of throat infection that would derail more delicate frontmen, he gamely leads his cohorts through a set that cherry picks the best of the band’s back catalogue and marries it up with much of the new album. Of the older tracks ‘European Lover’, ‘Boy In The Anorak’ and ‘She Looked Like Audrey Hepburn’ sound immense in this stunning venue, but equally so do newbies ‘Down In The Gutter’, ‘23’ and the wonderful closing track ‘Beautiful, Deadly and Mine’. The shortened encore (as the fifth or sixth Lemsip takes hold of Windle) finishes with the double delight of ‘Sexy In Latin’ and ‘House Party At Boothy’s’ and a joyous crowd grabbing their collective youth for one more bounce around. The pairing up of obvious lyrics about life and love with hummable guitar driven tunes isn’t rocket science or even original, but Little Man Tate do it better than most and for that reason it feels good to have them back. Photos by Scott Antcliffe www.scottantcliffephoto.co.uk

Band Links:-

Play in YouTube:-

Picture Gallery:-