Ice Cream Man

The Subways at the Troubadour

Words by Marc D'Amour
Photos by Marc D'Amour

A great rock show can sometimes be like a recipe. You start with a classic venue like the Troubadour in Los Angeles, add an energetic and raucous Friday night crowd ready to raise the roof, and complete the package with a 3 piece UK band that's up for the challenge. The Subways, doing select U.S. dates ahead of their September 9th Sire Records release All or Nothing, delivered a 65 minute explosion of rock that did not disappoint.

From the word go, everyone knew these guys meant business as lead guitarist / lead singer Billy Lunn and drummer Josh Morgan emerged from the Troubadour's upstairs green room shirtless and ready to rock. The 12 song set was a solid mix of new and old material, starting with the aptly titled "Kalifornia," and moving quickly through crowd favorites "Young For Eternity" and "Oh Yeah." The only time the sweaty crowd had time to gather their thoughts and recover from the chaos was when the band left for a brief moment to collect themselves before the encore.

Lead track "Girls & Boys" from All or Nothing was the band's first encore song, followed by the 2005 single and the band's most identifiable hit "Rock and Roll Queen." Lead singer Billy Lunn challenged the L.A. audience to go wild during this track, only to join them midway through after climbing to the balcony level of the Troubadour and diving ten feet to the masses waiting for him below. A few more power chords and a smashed drum kit later, and the Subways were gone. Presumably gone to wreck musical havoc and put on another rock clinic for the few cities left in their path.