Travis News

World-respected, tastemaking public radio station KCRW 89.9 FM held its annual benefit concert, KCRW Presents A Sound Eclectic Evening, this past Saturday (April 14) at Los Angeles's Gibson Amphitheatre, to raise funds in order to digitize the astounding 60,000 albums and CDs in the station's music library.

The sold-out show's allstar lineup was handpicked by Nic Harcourt (KCRW's music director and the host of the station's A.M. drive-time show Morning Becomes Eclectic), and boasted two impressive headliners: Albuquerque indie-pop heroes the Shins and British ska-pop starlet Lily Allen. Other performers (all of whom donated their time to this worthy cause) included lesser-known acts that KCRW embraced early on, like Orange County buzz band the Cold War Kids, old-school-style funk collective Breakestra, L.A. trip-hop orchestra Bitter:Sweet, and Mexican guitar-virtuoso duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela.

But one band not advertised on the bill that delighted attending KCRW fans (notably Tracey Ullman and Entourage's Adam Grenier) was Travis, who made a surprise appearance to debut new songs from their upcoming fifth album, The Boy With No Name.

The audience erupted when the Gibson Amphitheatre's revolving stage spun around to reveal the long-absent Britpop band, who kicked off their half-hour set with "Sing" from 2001's The Invisible Band. Other classics performed by the Scottish four-piece included "Love Will Come Through" (from 2004's 12 Memories) and "Writing To Reach You, "Turn," and "Driftwood" (from the 1999 breakthrough album The Man Who). However, the set's three new, never-heard songs ("Eyes Wide Open," "Selfish June," and "My Eyes," the latter of which was dedicated to frontman Fran Healy's unborn baby) were almost equally well-received.

Healy joked about his band's unwillingness to follow Rodrigo Y Gabriela's blistering, fleet-fingered flamenco performance (which had included a surprisingly unironic and effective cover of "Stairway To Heaven"). But judging from the crowd's thrilled reaction, Healy needn't have worried.

The night concluded fabulously on the tented Gibson lawn at the official KCRW afterparty (attended by Travis, incidentally), where Barcelona electronic-eclectics the Pinkertones and drum 'n' bass/jungle DJ Mocean Worker kept the festivities going until last call--and, with their distinctive party sounds, definitely ensured that the Sounds Eclectic Evening concert lived up to its title.