Arguably the UK's current American pop-rock band of choice, Minneapolis three-piece (tonight augmented by an extra guitarist/keyboard player) Semisonic have carved out a pretty substantial following for themselves in FM radio land with their hook-heavy singles.
There'll be no debuting of 'difficult' new material during this show - this is arena rock (albeit minus the arena) complete with audience participation, projection screens and a very loud mix that threatens to pound the band's more delicate moments into concrete. Opening with 'Singing In My Sleep', one of the highlights of 1998 breakthrough album 'Feeling Strangely Fine', is a guaranteed way to get the crowd on side.
There follows a choice sprinkling of tracks from the band's three albums to date, with the hits peppered at intervals to ensure boredom doesn't set in. Unfortunately, they still don't mask the fact that, while Semisonic are capable of belting out three-minute pop nuggets full of witty lyricism like 'Chemistry' and 'Get A Grip', some of their album material is less than inspired.
Frontman Dan Wilson, sporting a gold lame suit, attempts to engage the audience with charming anecdotes about the "meaning" of certain songs. And so 'DND' is revealed as a song about finding some "peace" masquerading as an ode to 'Do Not Disturb' signs in hotels. Unfortunately, the story isn't very impressive and neither is the song.
Equally annoying is his ten-minute intro to 'All Worked Out', at the end of which he confesses "Now we're going to do a song which is in three minutes what I've just spent the last ten explaining". Praise be.
Predictably, they climax the main set with 'Secret Smile' and 'Closing Time', which serve as reminders of the heights they can achieve. It's a pity that more often than not overt sentimentality, bland MOR rock and student humour brings Semisonic down to the musical equivalent of a hot dog and fries - they'll fill your needs briefly, but ultimately won't satisfy.
