Noah And The Whale, live at The Academy

In these dark, recessionary times, you’d be forgiven for knocking back an occasional handful of Prozac to lift the ol’ mood. A cheaper alternative, it turns out, is to catch London act Noah And The Whale’s live show. ‘Uplifting’ just ain’t the word...
As the smiley fivesome make their way onstage – suited and booted to the hilt – the delighted crowd (the place is jam-packed) goes wild. Fittingly, the big-haired kings of feel-good folk pop open with ‘Give A Little Love’, from their latest album Last Night On Earth. Lines like “If you give a little love/ You can get a little love back of your own” may run the risk of being too sickly-sweet for the more hardnosed cynics in the crowd, but you suspect cute-as-a-button songwriter Charlie Fink wrote them without even an ounce of cynicism.
The boys continue with more new, bursting-with-happiness tracks: ‘Blue Skies’, ‘Just Before We Met’ and the beautiful Tom Petty-esque life-ponderer ‘Life Is Life’ (give it a listen). Charlie then tells us the last time the band played in Dublin was “one of the best nights of our lives”. ‘What a lickarse!’ I hear you cry. Well yes, but there’s a quiet charm to this band that makes you want to believe in their ridiculously upbeat positivity.
And by jove, it keeps coming! ‘Love Of An Orchestra’ from second album The First Days Of Spring is quirk pop at its finest, while the delicate country twang of ‘My Door Is Always Open’ actually prompts not one but several lighters held aloft in the crowd – the sign of a good choon if ever there was one.
The boys continue with the Springsteen-flavoured ‘Wild Thing’, ‘Rocks and Daggers’, then the excellent oldie-but-goodie ‘5 Years’ Time’. They even pull the we-don’t-usually-perform-this-live ‘Mary’ out of the bag. Needless to say, fans literally swoon.
When they finally leave the stage, it’s not for long. Fans are hungry for latest single L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N., which Fink & Co. have wisely saved until the very end. And rightly so – it’s the perfect end to a damn fine show.