28/09/2005 The Yo-Yo's & 3 Colours Red @ Islington Academy

Subject	The Yo-Yo's & 3 Colours Red @ Islington Academy
DateCreated	10/2/2005 4:36:00 PM
PostedDate	9/28/2005 3:13:00 PM
Body	I still can't believe that I've seen the Yo-Yo's three times this year since they reformed - 12 months ago this would have seemed impossible! After seeing them earlier this year in Welwyn Garden City and at Camden's Underworld, tonight I catch them supporting 3 Colours Red on the last date of their tour together - and 3CR's last gig ever. Again.  I arrive to find the venue unusually full for a support band. Lots of familar faces are present - many of them in bands themselves.  Everyone I speak to is hear to see the Yo-Yo's rather than the headliners, although there are obviously lots of 3CR fans here as well. I've already been hearing reports over the last week of how good the Yo-Yo's have been on this tour - and tonight they live up to everybody's claims.  Tonight the band only get to play a 30 minute support slot, but they often only played that long as a headline band anyway so what's new? They couldn't have picked the setlist better to fill a mere half hour - it's packed full of classics from their fantastic 'Uppers And Downers' album, plus B-side song 'Stockholm Sick Blues', and a couple of brand new songs from their 7 track mini-album 'Given Up Giving Up'. The band are tight from the previous dates on the tour and play a blinder! The place of full of Yo-Yo's fans and the band go down a storm tonight - by the reception they got you would have thought they were the headline band!  New boy and ex-Black Halos & Amen man Rich Jones is fitting in well filling B-Movie Hero Neil Phillips blue suede shoes and takes Neil's place on lead vocals for one song. New drummer and ex-Cherrykick Craig Herdman fits in well too. The new songs are excellent - the new CD is sold out on the merch stall, as are the new Yo-Yo's T-shirts. The band are back and firing on all cylinders - playing a set of fantastic songs with real fire in their bellies. You don't often see rock 'n' roll played with such spirit and passion as these guys do it - I can't wait till their next London show!  As one McCormack brother returns in triumph with his reformed band, another bows out with his reformed and now splitting band. It seems a bit odd that 3 Colours Red are calling it a day when they can still produce decent new material (if only 35 minutes worth) for their latest album and still get a respectable crowd at their live shows - especially as none of the members projects after they split last time had much success.  To be honest although I like plenty of their songs, I have found 3CR rather average on the occasions I have seen them live in the past. However, tonight's show is the best I've seen from them and there is no air of sadness in the air due to them packing it all in after this show. All three of their albums are well represented in tonight's set, but most focus is probably on their first and arguably best album 'Pure'. Pete Vuckovic appears to be loving it and milks the crowd for all he's worth. Chris McCormack is giving it large and throwing shapes-a-plenty. If this really is the last 3CR show ever then they have certainly gone out on top form. So - how about a Grand Theft Audio re-formation now as all the ex-members of that band seem to be at a loose end again?