About to reach the end of their March Terminatour, the penultimate date saw Expected Boy and The No Name Janes rock up to Wrexham to play at Central Station’s Friday Rocks night.
Expected Boy were up first and it was a shame that their frontman Mara was ill, but they didn’t let an inconvenience like that stop them from putting on a great show and they were still pretty damn good, all things considered.
Sure, perhaps it wasn’t the strongest of vocal performances I’ve seen but the amount of sheer energy and showmanship displayed by all four members more than made up for it and there was an all-round great atmosphere throughout, with a lot of friendly joking between band and crowd – at one point Mara even introduced the band as Unexpected Girl! They played a good mix of tracks in the short but sweet set and they went down fantastically to the small crowd. It would have been nicer to have a bit longer set and it’s a shame that Mara was ill because although it was good, it could have been great if the band were at full strength.
Headlining the Wrexham date was The No Name Janes. It’s always fun to see this band because they always put on an entertaining and energetic performance and this night was no exception.
Playing a good mix of songs, both from their debut album Hometown and even some new treats thrown in for good measure, you could really see that the band were having fun. The thing about The No Name Janes is that it doesn’t matter if things don’t quite go to plan – for example, there was an instance where the setlist didn’t go in the expected order! – but they just tend to go with the flow and take things as they come, which makes for a very natural and well-flowing performance.
Sadly the set was cut short for me due to transport problems so for me the set ended with a great rendition of See You Later, Shitface.
A good night with some great vibes throughout. These are both bands you won’t want to miss seeing if they’re in your local area.
7/10
