Glasgow’s Barfly on the edge of the Clyde is a long way from Brisbane and Australia’s Gold Coast. It’s a damn long way for five teenagers to come and play a gig. Formed to take part in a school battle of the bands, Operator Please are a disco-punk five-piece who have since gone on to tour with Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys, The Go! Team and Maximo Park as well as gaining a #10 spot in the UK indie charts with a song about ping pong. The cynic in me is ready for a poor show with their success down to good PR and slick production on the recorded material. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
As soon as they take to the stage their energy infects the room, lead vocalist Amandah Wilkinson belting out the tunes with a power and command that impresses and will no doubt see her become one of the most lauded front women out there playing to the indie rock scene. Classically trained Taylor’s violin out performs any guitar they could have chosen for the role as she never misses a note while still managing to bounce up to the mic for her backing vocals. Again the enthusiasm of the band overwhelms anything describable, Ash on bass seems in a world of his own throwing out the rock bass for the rest of the band to play on—Timmy on drums grins away as he beats out the punk rhythms as if there could be nothing in the world more exciting & entertaining than to be up there playing this gig. Sarah,doesn’t stop moving for a second, continually dancing along and visibly enjoying the tunes and the show while still keeping her mind on the business at hand of technically perfect keyboards and other matters such as fixing Amandah’s outfit!
The tunes themselves are spot on, a mix of bubblegum pop punk anthems like Just A Song About Ping Pong to slower almost bluesy ballads every one played with more confidence than the most experienced international superstars usually manage. Leave Me Alone showcases the bands talent for performing perfectly as Amandah dedicates the song to a fan and then realises the choice could be taken badly, she cringes, apologises, the band & crowd laugh, and the song intro never misses a beat while recovering from the ad libs.
In fact for the whole show the band play so tight together and with no discernible mistakes that at one point I’m double checking for evidence of them miming to tape or some hypnosis trick—maybe the balloons strewn about the venue have mini-CD players hidden inside; anything to explain why this band are playing support tours and smaller venue shows rather than being top of the world & selling out headline slots at Wembley Stadium. Quite frankly I’m blown away and left simply flabbergasted without much more to say at the end of the gig than a string of hyperbolic adjectives. “Amazing.” “Impressive.” “Really great.” “Astounding.”
The year is only two thirds done but I’m already marking Operator Please down as my best live gig for 2007.
