Friday 02/03/07 The Rifles, Example @ Northumbria University Union, Newcastle

The Rifles’ support act this evening, hip hop MC, Example, seems like an unusual choice to warm up a crowd for a punk/rock/ska act like the headliners.  And it looks as if no one really knows what to make of it.  The music itself, a mix of samples and original compositions, sounds really tight: like a London version of The Streets; but there was very little, visually, to keep you interested.  A sentiment it seems the crowd agreed with, as a pint chucked over the decks cut the set short after only three songs.

Yet despite the ambivalence towards the warm up and the subsequent long wait for the headliners, the crowd are massively pumped up, and when The Rifles hit the stage, the room goes mental.  Launching straight into ‘She’s Got Standards’, the first track of their album, ‘No Love Lost,’ gets the crowd even more excited, and with good reason.  The band are on top form tonight, racing through their first three songs with a genuine energy and enthusiasm for the brilliantly played music, stopping only to take a breath after popular single, ‘Repeated Offender’, a definite highlight of the set.

So far, it seems the band cannot put a foot wrong, but throughout the second half of the set, their opening gusto seems to be flagging a bit.  A few mess ups and a hugely noticeable tempo change in the latter songs don’t help matters, but the crowd couldn’t care less. 

Winding up the set with another single, ‘Local Boy’, redeemed the band’s earlier mistakes and proved that even though they may have ****ed up a bit, and even though they didn’t really say much, the music speaks for itself.  The Rifles are pretty darn good live, and here’s hoping for an equally good second album.