Saturday, 13
September, 7.30 p.m., The Point, Exeter
Another day, another gig. Travis are about to go on stage. They're calm and unruffled. Only one
thing
sets it apart from their usual gigs. The Glasgow four-piece are about to play to a sea of Oasis fans
gagging only to see their idols and not usually bothered about any support band that fills in time.
That's all.
"We weren't nervous at all," says singer Fran afterwards. "We just stood there. The house lights
were
on. There was a guy holding open this massive curtain, and then the lights went down."
"We stepped into the void," says Dougie, the lugubrious and dryly hilarious bowl-topped bassist.
"The crowd sounded like an aeroplane taking off," Fran continues. "Screaming and clapping.
Oasis
and their whole entourage stood on the steps at the side, watching us do our first gig. I was so
calm--it kind of freaked me out because I was so unfazed by it."
"I think it's more nerve-wracking playing in front of ten people," agrees Andy, the guitarist. "We
could feel the energy coming off the audience," says Dougie. "Like a hair-raising fireball. They all
spontaneously combusted." But what does an audience that enormous look like from the other
side
of the crash barriers? What does a band see when they're faced with a 7,000-strong army of Oasis
fans? "7,000 Liam Gallaghers," deadpans Dougie. "But then 7,000 people clapping along to
'Good
Feeling.' That's the Queen moment of the set."
They deserve all of this too. Travis are the best new band to emerge from among a myriad of
bright
new guitar-toting things this year. They purvey chugadacious stomp-around pop and the finest
melt-in-the-mouth spiralling ballads to jump-start the most cynical hearts. Singer Fran has the
Bambi-boy looks of a Just 17 pin-up and a voice that revs between catch-in-the-throat
confessional and full-blown, guttural roar. You may have heard their singles--the stop-start
frustrations of "All I Want To Do Is Rock," the cautionary morality of "U16 Girls,"
and the full-on jaunt of "Tied To The 90s." You may even have seen them playing with Oasis.
Live,
they're aural-popping candy for your jaded palate. The only band around confident enough and
(crucially) oozing with enough talent to rise to the top. And Noel Gallagher agrees. That's why he
personally offered them the support slot.
Sunday 14
September, 1 a.m.
Travis are still working. Even as they come offstage, they're doing interviews and photo shoots.
Tonight they'll still be doing a photo shoot at 1.30 a.m. Everybody wants a piece of the action.
"We'll
probably look wrecked in those pictures," sighs Dougie.
Sunday 14
September, 11 a.m., Exeter town centre
The band go out record shopping and are recognised by three Oasis fans who saw them play the
night
before. "They said that they'd just been out especially to buy our album. That was brilliant," says
Neil.
Sunday 14
September, 4.10 p.m., a swish Exeter hotel
Travis meet Sky just before they set off for a sound check at The Point. "It's fucking
brilliant
being asked to support Oasis," says Dougie. "It's great when anybody says they like your music,
but
when it's Noel Gallagher and he asks you to support his band, it's even better." Fran has an
incurably
romantic explanation for Travis's lack of knee-knocking when they play. "It's as if it's meant to be,
because it doesn't faze you at all. It's like when you meet someone and you fall in love with them
and
there's never been a moment when you have to make an effort. People say we've had it easy, that
everything's fallen into our lap without us having to work for it. But the whole serendipity of us
coming together as a band over the last six years is so amazing. It all seems so natural." Coming
from
the curled lip of some preening wannabe such words might sound slightly arrogant--foolish, even.
But
Fran has a steady-eyed honesty and an unshakeable belief that Travis really are destined to find a
place in people's hearts.
| Now playing on |
 |
| Andy's stereo |
| Lou Reed,
Transformer |
| REM,
Document |
| V/A, The Number One Jazz Album
Of All Time |
But the band haven't reached the point where they've become so blasé about their potential
massive success. "I've never heard us on the radio," admits Fran. "Except for once when my friend
rang up to say that we were on, but by the time I turned it on, all I heard was the last few chords."
Dougie and Neil, however, reveal that they first heard their airplay in an off-licence: "We started
air-guitaring in the middle of the shop. No shame." Andy admits to photographing a massive
window
display for the band's album in Oxford Street. "I was so taken aback I had to sit down for five
minutes." But, make no mistake, Travis want to be famous: "That's why we got a record deal,"
says
Dougie. "That's why anyone gets a record deal, and if they tell you otherwise, they're talking
bollocks." And they reckon they'll be able to deal with it when it comes. "We're gonna be around
for
ten years at least," says Fran. "We'll get accustomed to that level of fame. Everyone wants to be
famous--that's why people buy records and go to gigs, they want a wee slice of it. When you go
to
see a band, you should want to be in that band." Dougie agrees: "When you're watching Oasis, as
soon as Noel looks anywhere, there's a sea of hands waving at him--just so they can say, 'Yeah,
Noel
looked straight at me'."
"It's great at the moment," says Fran. "It's all just starting for us, it's like we're in the centre of a
little
whirlwind starting somewhere out in the desert. It's building up, heading towards a city near you."
"When we're famous I'm going to buy one of those ear mice," says Dougie for no apparent
reason.
"You know, one of those mice that scientists bred with human ears attached." Andy looks
thoughtful.
"I'm going to have lots of pets," he decides, "and then hire Johnny Morris to sit in the corner of
the
room doing voices for them."
| Now playing on |
 |
| Neil's stereo |
| Nina Simone, Greatest
Hits |
| Stevie Wonder Songs In The Key Of
Life |
Sunday 14
September, 7.30 p.m., The Point, Exeter
Travis's second night of the tour. Where many support bands blink apologetically in the glare of
the
sweeping spotlights, Travis revel in their illumination. The fans nod along to the barnstormers and
burn their fingers on lighters duing the ballads. They aren't merely tolerating a necessary
interminable
support band. They're enjoying it, loving it. They cheer when the band announce that their album
has
reached No. 9 in the charts. And the jet-powered roar for Travis is approaching the volume of the
scream when Oasis take the stage.
Fran reckons the gig was even better than the night before: "When you play live, you have a
tendency
to speed things up because the adrenaline's going, but tonight we were more in control. When
Oasis
came on we seemed to have done our warm-up duty better, because the audience was more
responsive to them."
| Now playing on |
 |
| Dougie's stereo |
| Cornershop, When I Was Born For
The Seventh Time |
| Morrissey,
Maladjusted |
| The Band, Stage
Fright |
Monday 15 September, day off
The band are travelling up to London for one night. They're in the wars--Dougie's got the flu,
Andy's
got a cyst, and Fran has torn a ligament in his elbow: "It really hurts me when I punch the air in
'Tied
To The 90s', but I can't sing that song without doing it." Neil spends the evening playing Star
Wars Monopoly with his friends and Dougie goes to see The Full Monty.
Tuesday 16 September, Newcastle Arena
Travis and Oasis watch Celtic against Liverpool on TV at the venue. "I'm the only Celtic
supporter
in the band," says Fran, "but everyone was supporting them for that match." The band are getting
used to being around the Burnage boys. "It was kind of like watching the football with Bruce
Forsyth--you know, they're so well known."
Comparisons to popular light entertainers aside, touring with the sparring siblings seems to be a
doddle. "You see them on the TV, in newspapers, on billboards, everywhere, so when you meet
them
in real life it's so weird, but they're really cool, dead down-to-earth. It's getting to the point now
where we can sit there without going: 'Bloody hell! Look who this is!'" Travis also find time to
indulge in their favourite backstage activity of fruit squashing: "It helps to release tension," asserts
Dougie. "My particular favourite is the grape."
Wednesday 17 September, 2 p.m., Newcastle
Fran's in the hotel room he's sharing with Dougie. When Sky rings up to talk to him,
Dougie
answers the phone and admits they're listening to their own album. "We're listening for the flaws,
of
course," says Fran sheepishly. "It's for reference purposes only, you understand." Travis's singer is
lying on his bed in his boxers, watching a wildlife programme and getting distracted by the images
of lions chasing gazelles. Fran has spoken to his mum: "She told me that she was listening to
Radio
1, and she heard people being interviewed as they came out of the gig. She said that people were
saying: 'That Travis band, we'd never heard of them before but they were great.' It's annoying that
they hadn't heard of us, but brilliant that they enjoyed it."
| Now playing on |
 |
| Frannie's stereo |
| Love, Forever
Changes |
| Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin
II |
Thursday 18 September, Harley Street, London
Fran is getting a jab for his torn ligament in the rock'n'roll road of discreet docs. "Harley Street!
I've
made it! I've landed! I told my mum and she said: 'Oh, that's amazing! Where's that then?'" The
others
travel up to Aberdeen. Fran will fly up and join them tomorrow.
Saturday 20 September, Aberdeen E&CC
The band's families come to see them play. "It's the date we're most nervous about," confesses
Andy.
Travis are all fiercely loyal to their families and attribute much of their success to them. "My mum
didn't get a chance to do what she wanted in life," says Fran. "So she's always encouraged me to
do
exactly what I wanted."
Wednesday 24 September, Gatwick Airport
The band fly off to America to do a gig in New York, and to film a video for their new single,
"Happy", another gorgeous slice of pop. Fran tries to explain how he gets inspiration for his
songs.
"It's like, when Keith Richards used to try to explain how he wrote, he couldn't. He used to say
that
he was visited by the angels. You don't know how it happens, you just know that something was
right
when you wrote that song. It's like walking around with a lightning conductor," he mimes
pointing
an aerial towards the sky. "Noel Gallagher--pffft. The lightning strikes... Thom Yorke--pffft,
REM--pffft. Sometimes they get a good song, sometimes I do." So Travis are standing on top of
the
Empire State Building of the pop world, catching enough streaks of lightning to make their own
hair
frazzle.
Thanks to Lisa for scanning the photos!
Sky
October 1997
Diary: Kate Hodges
Photography: Scarlet Page
Oasis's support band Travis are making waves all of their own. We tag along with them on tour.
