By Rich Hobson

Poster for A's November 2019 UK tourIt’s fair to say Coventry has something of a weird relationship with turn of the millennium rockers A. Back when the band played in 2002 they were shot at with air rifles (among other incidents), and now 17 years later the band arrive sans keyboards as their player is struck down with a stomach bug on the eve of the show. But all that is to be dealt with later – right now punters are steadily filing into The Empire in Coventry, brought out to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the headliner’s excellent second record, ‘A Vs Monkey Kong’.

Set within what looks to be a converted theatre, there’s an air of nostalgic grandeur right off the bat that perfectly complements tonight’s set up. This is only further helped by the post-grunge yowlings of False Heads, the up-and-coming London punks putting on a set which kicks up whiffs of Nirvana and Mudhoney with pop-tastic choruses affixed to roaring punky riffs. It certainly gets the blood pumping, and while the band don’t necessarily have the stand-out anthems yet to conquer the airwaves (if such a concept still exists), they have enough heart to win over everybody in attendance for the evening, at least.

Next up are something of a welcome anomaly on the bill, in the form of raucous twosome ’68. So often seen taking up support slots with other bands, ’68 have appeared over here alongside the likes of 36 Crazyfists, P.O.D. and Alien Ant Farm in the past and managed to pull out blinding sets alongside each, but perhaps they’ve never sounded more in line with the other bands on the bill as here. Stripped back rock n roll with a punky shuffle, the band let loose thunder and brimstone with no frills, and while it catches most of the crowd off-guard (a fact commented by vocalist Josh Scogin as he recognises few – if any – will know his band before this set), it goes down well with tonight’s rock n roll loving crowd.

Ultimately though, nothing else tonight can compete with the nostalgic joy of seeing A get on-stage and blast through tunes from (arguably) their greatest – and certainly most punk adjacent – record. Relying on backing tracks (presumably triggered from the sound-desk) rather than a live keyboardist does seem to present a few stumbling blocks for the band as we have a few false starts to the set. Rather than feeling like a mood killer, this just creates a relaxed “see how we go” atmosphere in the room that perfectly fits the relationship A have built with fans over the past 20-plus years. The songs themselves still hold up remarkably well, with the likes of ‘For Starters’, ‘Monkey Kong’ and ‘Old Folks’ harken back to a time where a catchy chorus was all you needed to get on the radio, and the sing-alongs come thick and fast throughout the set.Poster for A at Coventry Empire, November 2019

The punchiness of the music underscores a sense of recaptured youth that prevails throughout the set, the room dancing and bouncing along to tunes that at one time seemed to threaten to overtake the world. Whilst A’s career never truly got the breaks it deserved, tonight offers up an alternative universe iteration where the band never went away and the great tunes just kept pouring – an affirmation of why these ‘album in full’ type affairs are a great way to reconnect with the bands that deserve a second look in when times have caught up.

  • A play the Teddy Rocks festival in Dorset over the weekend of 1-3 May.
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