The Subways were in town for a quick stop during a small and selective American tour. Chop Suey was at near capacity, and the front half of the crowd looked to be all teenagers – or younger! Yes, Seattle is very generous about getting kids involved early with live music and this was yet another all-ages show. When the U.K. band hit the stage, singer Billy Dunn and drummer Josh Morgan were shirtless; the young crowd had no idea they were about to be enslaved. They looked so innocent.

 

 

Billy Dunn is only 23 years old, but he prowls, teases and runs the stage like a seasoned performer in his late 30s. “All people who have their hands in the air are ten times sexier than those without their hands in the air!” he screamed. Another time, he demanded: “Seattle, go fucking crazy!” Dunn likes to get the crowd involved and he repeatedly said all night how they couldn’t believe the energy of the room. He was also shocked by his own mic, literally, several times during the first song, but his sound crew quickly fixed that problem.

 

 

Bassist Charlotte Cooper looked like a younger, healthier Courtney Love. Dressed in red shoes and a garbage-bag looking black dress (made of ‘pleather’ at best), she bopped and rocked around on her third of the stage the whole night. Morgan remained out of the spotlight, instead duplicating a shirtless, long-haired Dave Grohl murdering away at the drums hard with his head down the whole night, and he was sweat-soaked by the second song.

 

While the band did test run some new songs to a warm reception from their album All or Nothing, a truly epic moment occurred during “I Want To Hear What You Have Got To Say.” The crowd knew the lyrics so well that Billy and Charlotte stepped back to let the audience sing an entire chorus on their own. When the tempo of the song picked up and a delayed solo drew the impatience out of the crowd, suddenly everyone in the room was under the spell of Billy Dunn.

 

He grinned, as he covered the front of the stage while the song just hung in a purgatory state, waiting to explode again. Sweat. Skin. Heat. Genders meant nothing at that moment because everyone seemed to be sharing the same vibe and the same mind; the whole room was dying with anticipation. Hot, humid sex was crawling up the walls; it was similar to having to wait to be allowed to finally touch a lover while being teased. And then, when the room was certainly about to explode, Dunn unleashed the fury on guitar and the song rocked back into full force.

 

I saw the Subways at Lollapalooza in 2006 and Dunn told the thousands in attendance “I wish I could fuck you all!” I think he meant it.

 

 

Right after “Turnaround,” Dunn disappeared from the stage leaving Cooper and Morgan looking at each other in a confused state. Then he returned with 3 bottles of water and he soaked the B.O.-ridden crowd with each of them. The kids drank it up.

 

Returning for an encore, Dunn said “How the fuck could we not play more after a crowd like this?” After a sweat-soaked, full-blast of a show, somehow the band still had the energy to punch out “Rock and Roll Queen.” Dunn had so much fun launching himself into the crowd in the middle of this song that he ran back and did it again.

 

 

If anyone had thoughts that this band would be one-hit wonders (they are all under 23) after releasing just one album, they are sadly mistaken. All of the songs from the new album sounded polished and professional. And even if the songs don’t grab you, the live show of the Subways is a sure thing for fun.

 

Rock and Roll might be a little more “indiefied” today, but kids are still walking away from shows with ringing ears, sweaty bodies, new band merchandise and a show experience to last a lifetime. Performances like this help to keep kids away from shows like Miley Ray Montana Whatever-the-Fuck.