Wednesday 09/03/05 Fightstar @ The Academy, Liverpool

Cynicism eh, what a glorious characteristic that mankind has inherited, the ability to disregard human goodness on a whim, for it is this attribute that has already led many a folk to cast ex-Busted, Charlie Simpson, and his new band, Fightstar, aside in the discarded band shadows along with Paul S-Club’s ill-advised nu-metal project, Skewer. And this is without hearing a thumping (this is not a euphemism for **** incidentally!) note of what is potentially a very exciting band. So, are the self-righteous zealots correct in their views? Well, what are the chances, Fightstar have just played the Liverpool Carling Academy, so in the words of early-90s eminent buffoon, Lloyd Grossman, lets have a look at the evidence.

Unfortunately the press weren’t given access to have a chin-wag with Fightstar, presumably for fear of creating the impression that they would be riding on the coat-tails of Busted. Fair play, that is until you enter the venue, oh my, the phrase, ‘paedophiles playground’ maybe vulgar, politically incorrect, and just downright wrong, but outside of a Tweenies show this has to be the most apt description. Not exactly your usual crowd for a post-hardcore, emo, whatever the current appellation is of a fairly basic genre, gig!  Don’t get me wrong though, the kids were integrated with a decent number of chain clad emo kidz (the ‘z’ makes all the difference!) in this sold-out pheromone fest. The Fightstar fans are a-frettin’ (tears before bedtime p’rhaps), they want their boys (oh yeah, there are three others in the band) and they want them now. A hooded man is onstage, is that the Charlie Simpson…no, but it doesn’t stop the painful screams of anticipation from perforating eardrums from Liverpool to Lancaster. For a band not wanting to get a free ride from the Busted bus of commercialism, Fightstar don’t half ham up their entrance! Silence, followed by blackness, a drilling drumbeat, a blinding light, followed by… “AAAARRGGHH!” Yep, ol’ Charles is onstage! Fightstar, with poste-haste, blast their way through a punky Funeral For A Friend type number that suddenly answers the sceptics - they are not Busted. Alex Westway’s voice of rock purity complements Simpson’s Anglo-Trans-Atlantic drawl perfectly to ensure each number shows both sensuousness and anxiety.

‘Lost Like Tears In the Rain’ displays this with epic proportions - think ‘Sleeping With The Light On’ but with balls! Fightstar really do enlighten some of the Busted throng with, to be honest, a fairly modest cover of Nine Inch Nails' ‘Hurt’, which pales in comparison to the Fightstar Frankenstein, ‘Palahniuk’s Laughter’. The should have been behemoth single showcases the talent that the band have as songwriters, recalling the ravenous sound of an early Lost Prophets, a sound Ian Watkins probably forgot ‘Last Summer’ whilst dating Saturday morning TV presenters! Fortunately The ‘Star have a few more gems hidden in their baggies, inflating the fast, slow, quiet, loud template to grand dimensions with such vigour and ferocity. He’s played Wembley, he’s played all over America, he’s played in front of royalty for goodness sake, all this and Charlie plays a sweaty venue in the backstreets of Liverpool and is as humble as a humble pie, “thanks a ****in’ lot for comin’!”  But it wasn’t all about him, it was about them, and Fightstar certainly gave the proverbial finger to the cynics out there.