iLiKETRAiNS

On the strength of hearing one song on the radio the night before, I headed off to the the Barfly on Friday, 5th May. I prefer to know a band inside and out when I go to see them. I can sing along to my favourite songs, and appreciate the music more when I'm already familiar with it. Or so I thought until I saw iLiKETRAiNS (they write it like this, therefore I do!).

Their songs aren't song. They are pieces of art, painted in front of your eyes and hung out to dry. They sound like Joy Division with no joy. If one of them committed suicide, they wouldn't go on to form New Order, they would probably all join in and end their lives. Melancholic doesn't even begin to describe how haunting each tune is. The vocal delivery is slow, eerie, and attention full. There is no other band that I have ever seen that are as atmospheric. All 5 of them sporting train conductor jackets circa the 1970's, whilst visuals are projected onto the stage backdrop, with a soundtrack provided live in front of us, the experience seemed to transport each and every one of us to a different place. A great place!

The crowd kept respectively quiet until the end of each tune when there was spontaneous applause, and a few whelps too! One of the song entitled “The Accident”, where a scene is described where the narrator's girlfriend is being taken away from a party in an ambulance, sums up the lyrical themes of their songs. The words are simple, yet the imagery described anything but.

I walked out of the Barfly hoping that it wont be long until I see and hear them play again! I don't like trains, I love them!