Hundred Reasons

Reuben *are not here to merely hold the fort until their big brothers come on stage, they have been brought to Manchester to rip the fort apart with their bare hands. The crowd love Reuben. They love Reuben how they used to love Funeral for a Friend in their heyday, singing along to every chorus, every verse. The debut album, _Racecar is Racecar Backwards _is a masterpiece collection of guitar-driven anthems amply showcased here tonight with frightful vigour and courtesy. *Jamie Lenman’s mixture of primal scream, guttural yearnings and awestruck reception glide swiftly against the furious tautness of the untouchable rhythm section here. This really ought to be the current state of British rock.

Sadly, *Hundred Reasons *are. Dropped from their record label, in an all too familiar turn of events following their less successful sophomore offering, the Surrey quintet are once more ‘doing it for the kids’ in small venues all down the country. Just a matter of months ago they were headlining the Academy 1 with a remarkable ease about them but here their visceral live show is scaled down immeasurably. Gone are the suggestive banners and the sumptuous, accommodating stage and enter a basic, no frills stage with barely enough space for them all to move it seems. It just doesn’t seem to work any more as every song seems to lie down despondently. It seems as though too many people know this is a lost cause. The notable highlight is a rendition of _‘Remmus’ _from their EP Two, proving as popular as it ever has done, helping to confirm the doubt that they have ever made anything as good since. Once touted as a future mainstay of British rock lore, is this the end of Hundred Reasons as we have know them?