Davin O'Dwyer reviews Razorlight's performance at the Olympia

Razorlight

The Olympia, Dublin

It's easy to be sceptical about Razorlight. From the Strokes-lite song formula to the name that sounds as if it was created by a market research agency, Johnny Borrell's band will always find it hard to convince the doubters. And when Borrell marched on stage in the whitest jeans and shirt combination, it was hard not to think he was jacking in the rock'n'roll and auditioning for a Daz commercial.

Bassist Carl Dalemo, for his part, looked like he was fresh out of a Kurt Cobain lookalike competition, while Swedish guitarist Bjorn Agren, in his sensible sweater, would have been right at home in Coldplay. This is perhaps what the critics mean when they say Razorlight wear their influences on the sleeves.

The lyrics don't entirely convince either. When Borrell sings about there not being anything on the TV or the radio, you realise he feels this is the quintessential state of alienation and disaffection. The songs, however, inspired the opposite of alienation in the fans. Every song inspired more and more energetic handclapping, as most Razorlight songs beg to be clapped along to.

The crowd was given even more rock'n'roll hi-jinks to get excited about during Golden Touch. Borrell sprung into action, scaling the speakers and clambering into the boxes, delicately balancing himself over the audience. With the spotlight on him, security guards milling everywhere, and the crowd on the brink of explosion, you had to acknowledge it was a great stunt, even if it was as derivative as everything else Razorlight do. Best of all, though, were the bemused looks on the faces of rugby stars Denis Hickie and Shane Horgan, whose box Borrell had clambered into. They were probably wondering how he kept his whites so white.

Finally, at the very end of the show, Borrell and band broke into Somewhere Else, undoubtedly their best song. And just as the audience prepared for a stirring rendition, ready to milk that great chorus so they could go home happy, Razorlight finished. No crescendo, no climax, the song stopped as soon as the verses were done with.

Maybe the band are sick of the song already, but a band such as The Strokes would never waste any of their signature tunes so easily.