Razorlight, Wembley Arena, London

Alice Jones
Friday 03 November 2006 01:00 GMT
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Dogged by rumours of a split - last week their frontman Johnny Borrell appeared at a corporate gig with only a gospel choir for company - bar-room brawls and seething tensions behind the scenes, you could be forgiven for wondering whether the rest of Razorlight would turn up.

But turn up they did and as a black curtain fell to reveal the stage set, it was Andy Burrows who got proceedings off to a rip-roaring start with a blistering drum solo, leading into "In the Morning", the opener of their eponymous second album. His T-shirt commanded "Everybody clap their hands" and as Borrell leapt on to the stage in his customary all-white get-up of T-shirt, baseball boots and skinny jeans, squeals were added to the applause. Meanwhile, guitarist Bjorn Agren and Carl Dalemo on bass seemed happy to stay in the shadows.

After a cursory "Good evening, Wembley", they launched into the stomping Motown of "Hold On", another Razorlight track. Wembley was the culmination of a nine-date arena tour of this second album, which revealed a more coherent, mature sound than the high-octane indie-punk of their debut Up All Night. Tonight was the greatest test so far of their newly epic sound.

Borrell was going all out with the stadium drama. When he wasn't strumming his guitar, he flailed his limbs to theatrical effect - cradling his head of curls in his hands, clutching his chest, throwing himself to his knees and thumping his fists on the amps. He was mesmerising, all Jaggeresque slinky hips and twitchy energy, prowling when he wasn't singing or crouching.

"Golden Touch" provoked the first mass singalong of the night, followed by "Back to the Start", a skank rock number that saw Borrell hit his stride. Unencumbered by his guitar, he perched on the edge of the stage on tiptoes, soaking up the crowd's adulation. "LA Waltz" was overcooked, accompanied as it was by images of glaciers crashing and other climate change visuals, though it did provide a fine shop window for Borrell's resonant stadium vocals. The mood lifted with a jaunty "I Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" and the doo-wop of "Who Needs Love", culminating in the sweeping grandeur of "America".

It was an exemplary showcase of musicianship and song-writing with few surprises, new songs and old eliciting equally rapturous responses. For all his showmanship, though, Borrell hardly addressed the crowd. At the climax of "In the City", he clambered up on to an amp and knelt there, Sphinx-like. Adrift from his band, topless, beestung lips parted with a look of far-off wonderment in his eyes, his intensity was a little disconcerting.

He returned for the encore, alone, to sing "Fall, Fall, Fall", mastering its soaring vocals to breathtaking effect. Then a rousing trio of old favourites "Rip it Up", "Stumble and Fall" and "Somewhere Else" sent the youthful audience off into the night jumping for joy. You can't help wondering if the band are having quite as much fun as their fans.

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