Sensational Subways headline sold-out Black Prince gig

If you watch any band or artist for long enough, you’ll realise they’re really just the same as everyone else. People get old and the pace decreases - usually.

However, there’s anomalies out there, acts you see and realise are still putting in 100% each night, the same way they did decades earlier.

Hertfordshire natives The Subways comfortably fall into the latter category.

Watching the trio perform at The Black Prince in Northampton as part of a tour to promote their new record, you can’t help but admire the shift put in by guitarist Billy Lunn, bassist Charlotte Cooper and relative newcomer – drummer Camille Phillips.

During a career spanning two decades, The Subways have played on some of the biggest stages the UK has to offer and in front of tens of thousands of fans, so there’s a palpable sense of excitement among the couple of hundred packed inside The Black Prince for the sold-out show.

Joining The Subways on their jaunt across the UK, were CATBEAR and Shallow Honey.

Both put in solid performances as the venue filled up, the former with their synth heavy alt-pop and Shallow Honey with more alt-rock leaning tunes.

The Subways kicked off their set with 2005 hit Oh Yeah – with Lunn and Cooper trading vocal lines and when not singing, they were hurling themselves around every inch of The Black Prince stage.

The band’s modus operandi is a straight-forward one - high octane alternative rock, huge riffs and singalong choruses.

And during their 20-ish song set, its there in the bucketload – whether that’s in the form of recent single You Kill My Cool, 2012’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or 2011’s We Don’t Need Money To Have A Good Time.

Between songs, Lunn frequently paused to speak to fans, to talk about tracks and to admit “this life has been an absolute dream,” adding, “I still expect to wake up.”

As The Subways’ set edged to a close, the trio covered Hanging On The Telephone by The Nerves before ending on a trio of With You, Uncertain Joys and Rock n’ Roll Queen.

At the conclusion of the latter, Lunn dived off the stage into the audience where he was carried along the length of the venue and back.

As The Subways approach the 20th anniversary of their debut album, there’s absolutely no sign of the band slowing down – they might just be Young For Eternity.