The 90’s Britpop scene in the UK was all about promoting Britishness and “ladish” behavior and caused such a splash that some of those bands even spilled over to the U.S. (Oasis, Blur) though many that were hugely popular in the UK never saw a minute of airplay in the U.S. (The Bluetones, Ocean Color Scene.) As the sun set on the 90’s, so too did it set on Britpop with many of the bands having broken up or releasing low-charting albums. As the new day dawned, out stepped the Scottish four-piece, Travis, with their 1999 sophomore album, The Man Who. This post-Britpop release seeping with emotion, self-pity and minor chords was the antithesis to the loud, bright anthems that had previously invaded the airways in Britain. The Man Who went on to be certified 9x Platinum in the UK, estimated to be owned by 1 in every 6 households in the UK.
The follow-up to this success was the much loved The Invisible Band, released in 2001, which managed an impressive 4x platinum certification in the UK and managed to gain them a lot of traction in the U.S. To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of The Invisible Band, Travis undertook a tour to play the album in full to audiences around the world. Though an injury to singer Fran Healy’s hand from a dog bite postponed/canceled many of their U.S. stops, Travis managed to record their hometown gig in Glasgow in May of 2022 at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. For this year’s Record Store Day, Craft Recordings will be releasing the only physical edition of The Invisible Band: Live on clear vinyl.
The concert begins, as it does on The Invisible Band, with their massive single “Sing.” The listener is instantly struck with the fact that Fran’s vocals sound just as good as they did twenty years ago. As the quartet continues through the album tracks including the hit singles “Side” and “Flowers in the Window” it is apparent that rest of band, Dougie, Neil, and Andy are all perfectly gelling together as well and one can just imagine the fun they are having onstage. In-between songs, Fran banters and tells stories about how they went to L.A. to record the album with Nigel Godrich and attended a party at Alanis Morissette’s house. He even segues a story about pissing on the flowers outside next to Moby into “Flowers in the Window.” The exciting part of attending a tour where a band is playing the whole album is getting to hear songs that don’t normally make the set list, especially twenty years later with many other albums under their belt. Being able to hear deep cuts like “Afterglow,” “Safe,” and “Dear Diary” played live is enough to make those that couldn’t attend the shows jealous.
For fans that were able to see Travis live over the years, this live album will reignite those memories of Fran’s lovely singing and banter, Andy jumping and twirling around while playing guitar solos, Neil’s head cocked to one side as he plays drums and Dougie’s unique bass playing movements. For those that have never been lucky enough to catch the legendary Scots in concert, The Invisible Band: Live is a must listen. Limited to only 5,000 copies worldwide, this release is reason enough to lineup outside your local record store for RSD this year.
