Scottish trio blow the roof off the Cluny with energetic show full of swagger

The LaFontaines

FORGET Sunday night blues, I think I’ve found the perfect cure. From the moment Scottish rap-rock trio The LaFontaines bounced onto the stage at Newcastle’s Cluny on Sunday evening, they delivered a party atmosphere like no other.

Touring in support of recently released third studio album Junior, during a 90-minute set of enthralling enthusiasm, the threepiece treated their Newcastle fans to a rip-roaring set of songs new and old.

Their uplifting swagger, energy and Scottish patter was reciprocated in full by those watching on, who by the end of song two were already reeling off a LaFontaines chant completely unprompted.

Enigmatic frontman Kerr Okan looked like a man enjoying the whole thing, and was keen to get in on the act. He was regularly down and in the pit among the fans.

The LaFontaines are most certainly a band on the rise. Junior, released in June, reached 33 in the UK Top 40 album charts, and the fact this show had to be upgraded from the Cluny’s second room due to demand says a lot.

They’re tough to classify genrewise, but that isn’t a bad thing. There’s certainly elements of pop-punk but the band’s core sound is that hip-hop rapping.

Forget about Monday, and the start of the working week; Sunday evening was time to party. Based on that performance, if you catch The LaFontaines once, you’re almost certainly going to remember the experience, and are going to want to relive it again. That’s why the future looks bright for this brilliant Motherwell trio. I can only see their army of fans growing with every brilliant live show.