Fresh from a summer which saw them play festivals in between tours of Japan, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Austria as well as guitarist Josh Hubbard teaming up with Dirty Pretty Thing, the Paddington’s found time to kick up a storm in their hometown of Hull.

Supported by ‘The Enemy’ (a band that merge the behaviour of Oasis wannabes with the raw edge of Britpop) the gig promised to be full of loud, edgy, no-nonsense music that would certainly knock the crowd up a gear, throw in the fact that it was Paddington’s bassist Lloyds birthday meaning the band had a another reason to enjoy themselves.

Entering the stage to a rapturous reception the band kicked off and it was ‘21’ that set the tone as the crowd began to become unstable during the 3 minutes of edgy punkiness, add to that lead singer Tom Atkin questioning the crowd ‘It’s good to be back in Hull, could be better, Manchester was better, beat Manchester, can you do that?’ and it set the tone that the next hour would consist of nothing but energetic tunes and a riotous crowd.

Tom Atkin was his usual self, commanding the microphone as if it were his prized possession, swigging occasionally from the can of Stella in one hand and testing his vocal range by belting out the lyrics with such exuberance. The front man, under the influence of numerous cans showed clearly that he was glad to be back in ‘Ull.

They played an energetic set with no gaps, just a powerful sequence of well performed songs. Fans favourite ‘Panic Attack’ forced the club to explode with Tom declaring ‘this is what the doctor ordered’. Another favourite ‘50 2 a £’ with its pop/punk riff was followed by new song ‘rock n roll rat race’ which allowed over 6 minutes of a catchy crowd sing along.
An inspired version of The Clash’s’ ‘Janie Jones’ certainly tested the crowds punk heritage as Tom dedicated the song to the late Joe Strummer before ripping into the vocals and creating 2 minutes of a fast paced sing along. New song ‘You and I’ brought the crowd back down to earth as its essence of slow rock n roll turned it into a ballad and its meaningful lyrics (you and I, were never meant to be, we tried, just never meant to be) forced the crowd to stand up and take notice that while the band can write 3 minutes of stomping drum and guitar riffs they can also do the opposite.

Throughout the gig the pace never dropped as the band strutted around despite the lack of mobility on stage. The gig was an adrenaline rush from start to finish and allowed the crowd to be 100% engaged in the experience.

The encore of ‘loser’ ensured that the performance ended at 100mph as the combination of Toms raw vocals merged with the tenacity of the others playing proved that the songs are as infectious as they sound. The crowd left knowing that what had they had seen was a performance so full of energy that it had rubbed off onto them. The band had the final say - ‘see you when we get back’ and I bet Hull can’t wait.

Michael Seymour

You gotta go see them - awesome, awesome, awesome!