Right… big room, big night, and a band that’s clearly not interested in playing small, even if they tried.
First thing that hits me… this venue is massively full people everywhere reminded me of seeing Stiff Little Fingers at the Empress Ball Room in Blackpool Rebellion Festival (which I may have the pleasure off covering this year).
Proper “you could still park Gene’s ego in here and still have space for some classic Fred’s as well, looking slick” territory.
Out they come, and yeah… straight away you clock it. Ten years older than me, easy. But there’s something about it. Not tired, not faded… just lived in. comfortable but still exciting with that self-esteem, that presence, still intact. No apologies. Oh spoiler alert it is The Smiths, The Smiths are their Heroes!
They open with You’ll Never Walk Again and We Could Be Kings, and it’s straight into it. No easing you in. Just bang, we’re off. Be My Light, Be My Guide lands exactly how you want it to, and Sick, Sober & Sorry still carries that weight. You forget how many of these tunes are just… proper songs.
This Is Not My Crime into Walking in the Shallows, then Truth, Rest Your Head… it’s one of those sets where you stop checking what’s next because you already trust it.
Then Stop and Long Sleeves for the Summer roll in, and it’s just hit after hit without it feeling like a greatest hits conveyor belt. There’s heart in it. There’s space.
Where Are They Now? and Save Me, I’m Yours though… that’s where it gets you. That one especially. Written on a train from Piccadilly to Euston, back when it took forever. You can feel that in it. Proper romance to it. Window-gazing, thinking-too-much energy. My heart properly defrosted at that point.
Speak to Me Someone, Yours for the Taking, Who Said This Was the End… and then The British Disease just sharpens everything back up again.
And then Haunted by You… yeah, that one. Frosted me straight back up. Exactly how I remember it off Shine Two compilation album 1996 I recon. Cold in the best way. It’s a great track if you don’t know it.
Olympian gets a massive reaction, especially from the couple next to me who were absolutely having their moment with it. Always love clocking that… someone else’s highlight becoming part of yours.
I had a Bit of chat to Iman and Jason (the couple next to me) from “moochin about records ” starting the label, and they ask when we last saw them. I’m thinking… 1997? Feels about right. Feels mad saying it out loud, but also… yeah, checks out.
And honestly, it’s summed up best in something Jason said, and it sticks because it’s bang on:
“Gene were absolutely stunning tonight – tight, emotional, and full of that timeless indie drama they do so well.”
The Encore kicks in: They’re on about how we’ve been “marvellous”… nah. That’s them. Fully them.
London, Can You Wait? and For the Dead… huge. Proper huge.
Quick reset. Cheeky tin of Red Stripe in hand. No ket, no blueberry whatever… just that and a reminder that rock and roll is still very much alive and kicking.
Fighting Fit keeps it rolling before they disappear again.
Second encore, and it strips right back. Martin Rossiter on his own for Drawn to the Deep End. Someone shouts “Martin you are legended” and honestly… not wrong. Not even slightly.
Is It Over? follows, and then it gets a bit weird in the best way. Pierre the roadie gets dragged on stage, full crew stereotype, getting his moment while Martin’s there stroking his face like it’s all perfectly normal. Which, tonight, it is. and then Sleep Well Tonight to close it. Jacket back on, Red Stripe in hand, back out like it’s never really ending.
No big dramatic goodbye. Just… see you when we see you.
Walking out of that massive room, you realise something.
This wasn’t a band revisiting the past.
They just never really left it behind.
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