Elsewhere: Brussels sprouts unmissable rock acts

By GRAHAM REID

Brussels probably isn't high on anyone's rock'n'roll travel schedule - unless you're a musician. In the past month everyone seems to have passed through, from Bob Dylan and Sheryl Crow to Radiohead and a flying squad of various hip-hoppers.

The reasons are obvious when you think about them: it's part of the European touring circuit and as the capital of Europe with the EU based here it has thousands of (sometimes monied) Eurocrat kids and students from dozens of countries.

It has great record shops, like Fnac in the city centre with an extensive and thorough catalogue, and it's only three hours from London regardless of how you make the trip.

You wouldn't discount 400 different beers and excellent little bars and restaurants as being an attraction for most musicians either.

Brussels also boasts excellent venues, such as the modern Cirque Royale, a multi-purpose centre build in the round and with precarious tiered seating (like the upstairs of the Civic), which means the acts seem remarkably close.

It was there Travis played to what initially looked like a poor house. But after an excellent set by Athlete, the place started filling towards its capacity of maybe 2500.

Athlete - whose quietly terrific album Vehicles and Animals has gone past most people - were amusingly self-effacing. Singer Joel Pott said you could find the album in shops but it was probably behind a lot of other albums.

Their strong material polished up like early Paul McCartney and featured their fine El Salvador. They won a lot of friends.

When Travis hit the stage - after their platoon of roadies busied themselves moving musical furniture, guess that's how much you carry when you have huge hits - the response was extraordinary. They were greeted as if they were hometown heroes.

Frontman Fran Healy sported a gleaming white suit - why don't more frontmen do that? They take every nuance of lighting - and immediately delivered a powerful set that favoured their new album 12 Memories.

On record those songs sound flat and lifeless, not to say boring. But live, Travis (plus a keyboard player) pump them into grand ballads. Songs like Beautiful Occupation become gripping, and Healy poured a Jeff Buckley-like intensity into material such as Love Will Come of This.

This was a band with a great heart and messages of hope in troubled times.

When Healy noticed a young girl at the front had fainted he stopped the show and had her lifted out, then gave her a seat by the on-stage sound desk. It was a gesture which the crowd enjoyed but seemed nothing less than genuine on his part.

For the encore he returned alone with an acoustic guitar and with all the monitors off delivered a solo version of Flowers in the Window, which the crowd quietly sang along with, giving the tune a hymnal quality.

Then it was a birthday cake for bassist Dougie Payne and, of course, Why Does It Always Rain On Me to bring to a close an excellent night in an unexpectedly rock'n'roll town in northern Europe.

Time for a beer, I reckon.