Discovering Courteeners’ most well-known song ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ seems to be a right of passage for first years - or so I have been led to believe due to the amount of times I have seen it used on Instagram stories. The lyrics “You're not nineteen forever, pull yourselves together / I know it seems strange, but things, they change” resonate with university students across the globe - many of whom are the titular age - echoing the words of parents to “pull yourselves together” and perfectly describing the feeling of being on the verge between teenagehood and adulthood. Watching Courteeners perform this live with my own nineteenth birthday on the horizon sent chills through me; the lyrics have the ability to remind you of both the joy and the fleetingness of youth at the same time.
Courteeners took Boardmasters as an opportunity to introduce some songs from their new album, Pink Cactus Cafe. Seeing ‘Are You in Love with a Notion?’ was another highlight; hearing it play across the arena while casually ordering a halloumi wrap is an experience not many people can say they have had. As with many of Courteeners’ songs it was a shame that not enough people knew it to sing it back to them, but even without the crowd-singing of some of the larger acts, it was still a brilliant performance.
They balanced out their newer and thus more unknown tracks with a cover of Madness’ ‘It Must Be Love’ as the sun descended, which proved to be a great crowd pleaser. Perhaps it would not be the cover most people would expect, but it suited them perfectly.
You’ll be glad to hear, Yorkshire got a shoutout between songs.
Though a great show, personally I think they could have done with more Indie Tuesday attendees in the crowd to sing their songs back at them.
