When the band first broke onto the scene in the mid to late 1990s, Glasgow’s Travis was at the forefront of the British trad rock revival. Like its counterpart, Oasis, Travis is a descendant of established bands, such as The Beatles, U2, and Radiohead, as well as a progenitor of Coldplay, the more recent arena kings. The band never attained the success of either Oasis or Coldplay, partly because it rarely attempted to be larger than life while those groups openly admit to a certain amount of megalomania.

On its latest recording, The Boy With No Name, its first in four years, the band is not reaching for great heights and the result is an album that showcases a mature act that is comfortable in its normalcy while maintaining a dedication to well-crafted material. In a sense, this willingness to just be Travis is a step forward for the boys, because their weakest moments on record have been where they abandon a low key aesthetic in favor of grandeur. Last night at a sold out 9:30 Club, the band could do no wrong. Travis delivered two hours of polished melodic rock where even the more reaching material worked because of a well paced set list and the sheer enthusiasm of band and crowd alike.

Photos by Kyle Gustafson