I joined David Best and Ryan Wilson from the The Pigeon Detectives shortly before their gig at Rock City celebrating the 10th anniversary of their iconic album Wait For Me. The two seemed quite surprised that they had an interview to start with as they had requested not to do any on this tour, but were happy to talk none the less (making this a bit of an exclusive).
To start with we spoke about how the band has matured and progressed since the album was originally released in 2007. Ryan said that they still have the same energy and enthusiasm that they had back then but have noticed that they get a lot more out of breath after performing. They’re getting old! The pair agreed that they still enjoy performing the songs from Wait For Me, especially as now they have a lot more songs released, there are some that they don’t get to play very often. “Tonight, we will be playing so B sides that we haven’t played for about eight years” said David. Although, David admitted if he were to record the album again he would include more of the B sides on the original but was forced to cut them out at the time
The Pigeon Detectives have written and recorded some great songs in their time as a band, but I wanted to know which songs they wish that they had written themselves. David was quick to answer with ‘A Day in The Life’ by The Beatles and Ryan decided on ‘Halleluiah’. They also both agreed that given the choice between fighting one horse sized pigeon, or one hundred pigeon sized horses, they would take on the one horse sized pigeon and (as the band are all over six feet tall) they would of course win. On that note, I left them to get their finishing touches sorted and to enjoy the rest of their pizza before the show.
B3AR, a two-piece house/dark indie band, opened the gig and the venue quickly began to fill as they started playing. They had an electronic alternative feel to them, which, along with Myles’ humour between tracks, got the crowd moving and clapping and bouncing along. Considering they have only been together for two months and are already opening Rock City, I am expecting big things from them in the future.
Next up was Little Comets, and at this point I was pushed against the front barrier and the excitement for Pigeon Detectives was growing. Little Comets played some of their classic songs such as ‘Dancing Song’ and ‘Bridge Burn’ and their Indie rock had the crowd electrified by the time they left the stage. Lead singer Robert Coles had even written his set list down on a paper plate, a perfect example of the quirkiness of the band.
Finally, it was what everyone had been waiting for. The lights dimmed and the music started playing and the crowd erupted with cheers whilst I was rammed into the barrier and lost the ability to breath- it was amazing! The energy of the Pigeon Detectives is always incredible and they didn’t disappoint.
They played the classic songs from Wait for Me including ‘I’m Not Sorry’ and ‘Take Her Back’ but also some surprise B sides including ‘Wouldn’t Believe it’. In true Pigeon Detective fashion, frontman Matthew Bowman drenched the first couple of rows of the crowd with water, and even handed me my very own bottle. He didn’t stay still during the whole set and was constantly high fiving and fist bumping the crowd. When the set finished and the band left the stage the crowd didn’t stop shouting and cheering for them to come back on and when they did, they treated us to a four-song encore which opened with ‘This is an Emergency’.
Lead singer Matthew Bowman conducting the crowd- Photo by Abby Clarke
Overall this is one of the craziest, most energetic gigs that I have been to and potentially the most painful as I woke up this morning with the biggest bruises from being crushed at the front. In my opinion, it was 100% worth it and anybody that still has the chance to see this amazing 10th anniversary tour should take advantage and go.
Featured photo courtesy of Sonic PR
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