Lovejoy, O2 Academy Glasgow, 13th September 2023
To anyone over 40, the name Lovejoy conjures up memories of a slightly creepy antique dealer character in an 80s tv programme. To a certain cadre of under 21s, Lovejoy is a popular indie rock band.
My older daughter is a music lover, she plays the saxophone and has a broad taste in music, only lightly influenced by myself. She turned 14 this summer, thus making her old enough to attend gigs (with a responsible adult). Lovejoy has been one of her favourite bands for a while, so it was only fitting that they should be her first proper gig.
One long journey this summer, she put them on in the car for me to have a proper listen. I was immediately reminded of Two Door Cinema Club, which is a good thing. It turned out that she had independently found TDCC and also liked a couple of their songs. Lovejoy are a newish band and she reported that one of their major influences is Los Campesinos! I immediately gained parental cool points by recounting this wee story.
Lovejoy weren't on my radar at all until she mentioned them (repeatedly) but getting tickets proved quite difficult. We signed up for the presale, but missed out, so I found myself waiting on general release day sitting in front of multiple screens hoping for the best. Luckily I was successful that time and 2 tickets were secured.
On the night of the gig, her wee sister was dispatched to her dad's for the night and Child1 and I headed into town. The venue was the O2 Academy, which I hadn't been to for ages. It was sold out, and despite us arriving more than half an hour after doors, there was still a queue around the block. We braved the drizzle and joined the masses.
We heard some noise coming from inside the venue, but I'm not sure if it was soundchecking or if we missed the first support band. We finally got in and found the place already packed. We decided on a spot on one of the side raised sections near the back, in order to get a decent view of the stage. The (2nd?) support band came on, Good Kid, a Canadian band who were apparently known to everyone in the audience, as they got a warm welcome and people were singing along and dancing from the start. I liked them, they had a nice vibe, fun dancey tunes and a subtle charisma and confidence that I guess just comes from being Canadian.
Lovejoy themselves came on to much screaming from the very young audience. Their music is fairly standard indie rock, quite poppy lyrics and melodies, each song seemed to include a chorus or refrain that demanded to be shouted out by the crowd. The Two Door Cinema Club comparison was less evident in the live set, which had more the feel of a McFly/Busted type thing, albeit a little rockier. The screaming was unexpected, but was repeated at the start and end of every song and any time the band spoke. They screamed, several girls around us were crying. A good third of the crowd were filming on their phones at any one time, but no-one seemed to mind. It was behaviour more commonly seen for boybands or at an Ed Sheeran show than anything the Academy normally experiences and I was quite confused.
About 3 songs in, the band had to halt mid-song because someone had fallen down in the front section of the crowd. They made sure the person was rescued before starting the song again. A second person went down later but they were swiftly removed without interruption.
The crowd sang along to every single word of every single song, not just those who were at the front, but everyone in the whole place, except perhaps the parents like me who were there as chaperones. We got our time to shine, however, when Lovejoy did a Killers cover. The kids fell silent, the oldies sang 'Smile Like You Mean It' and embarrassed their offspring. Order was restored.
Child1 had a great time. We had a look at the merch stall but the massive queue put us off so we headed home, first gig voted a resounding success.
I can't say I'm a Lovejoy fan now, much to my daughter's dismay. She's right in that they make the sort of music I like, but they just didn't have that special something for me. I do like indie rock, but not all indie rock, really just a handful of bands and I rarely listen to them these days. I do like new music, and am always keen to hear new stuff, but these guys just didn't do it for me. They undoubtedly appeal massively to teens and 20-somethings, perhaps I'm simply too old. Maybe the weird (to me) atmosphere in the gig coloured my opinion? I'm not sure. In any case, they might not be my new favourite band but there are worse ways to spend a Wednesday evening, and there are certainly worse bands that my daughter could have picked for her first gig. Here's to many more gigs together.