"Are we having the time of lives! C'mon, sing it! Even if you don't mean it, lie and sing along!" - Guy Garvey, 29 March 2011, O2 Arena London
A Brief History of Elbow
It was with trepidation that I went to see Elbow at the O2 in London last night (Tuesday). I've been a huge fan of Guy Garvey's band for what seems like for ever. I won't claim to have got into them at uni when their first major album Asleep at the Back was released, and the radio friendly 'Newborn' gave them a profile, but the follow-up album Cast of Thousands knocked me sideways with raw emotion worn on its sleeve, tied in with a wonderfully bitter and mournful lyrical style that poked fun at itself while never being jolly. Third album 'Leaders of the Free World' cemented the band's place in my heart, taking the similar themes of lost love and broken dreams and weaving in some timely social commentary about the war in Iraq and Blair's seeming love of having W "smash it", to coin Richard Keys.
It was on their Leaders of the Free World tour that I first saw Elbow, at the Brixton Academy. The place was jam-packed, and the band themselves didn't quite seem to believe it. It was a warm friendly love-in that night, a setlist chock-full of most of the many highlights that span those first three albums (Fugitive Motel - check, Asleep at the Back - check, Mexican Standoff - check, Ribcage - check... and so on). The evening had a cheery end-of-an-era feeling to it - the Leaders of the Free World album hadn't exactly set the charts alight, peaking at #12, while the title track - released as second (and final) single from that offering - didn't manage to dent the Top 50 of the hit parade. It was tricky to see what Elbow could do next, but most people in Brixton that night didn't care, we had that evening and a cracking selection of songs that were ours - so what that the masses didn't give a hoot about you, we love you guys!
What Elbow Did Next
In 2008, Elbow released a new album. On first listen, there was
something different about The Seldom Seen Kid. Was this good or bad? On second listen, it became clear that something was very different in the world of Elbow... Guy Garvey had found love. It's hard to begrudge that of anyone this, especially somebody who has had the previous lows you can hear and empathise with in previous records. But what becomes of the broken hearted who loved Elbow mk1 for precisely and eloquently outlining our frustrations? Well lets not worry about that (genuinely!) as there are some truly fantastic tunes to be found on TSSK - The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver, Grounds for Divorce, The Bones of You - some of the very best material they have ever made. But beyond that.. quality control was clearly not the order of the day. The Fix, with a guesting Richard Hawley, is smug beyond belief. An Audience With The Pope is just nauseating. Mirrorball... no no no and no. It was the huge disparity between the extremes of the album that meant I couldn't enjoy it, let alone listen to it all in one go more than the first few attempts. But that's ok, they'll get this one out of the way, and then return to the glory. But I hadn't counted on the Mercury Music Prize. The band did turn in a epic version of Tower Crane Driver as part of the ceremony, did that influence the judges? Had the judges heard the rest of the album? It didn't matter, because something changed that evening. Suddenly the mass media picked up on Elbow, particularly 'feel good' song One Day Like This, and the band were soundtracking almost everything on TV, from Match of the Day highlights to, err,
Peter Kay's Animated All-star Band (if you can't stomach the whole thing, 3.52 is where 'that song' makes a horrific ear smoothie with 'Hey Jude').
ElbO2
Snap forward to the present day, and I arrived at the O2 looking forward to seeing the band. I've never been to the O2 before, my only real knowledge of it is from the Eastenders opening credits, and it certainly looks very fancy when you first get off the tube at North Greenwich. I was really pleased that the band are playing a venue this big - for sure they'll play a lot of TSSK and the new album (bit of a return to form IMHO) Build a Rocket Boys!, but it's also a great chance to introduce the masses to any number of the brilliant songs written and recorded before success came their way. The gig starts promisingly, with the best two tracks from the new album (The Birds and Lippy Kids) sandwiching The Bones of You (which was introduced as an "old one!" - alarm bells should have been ringing at this point). As Lippy Kids came to an end, I'm thinking "go on, hit us with one of the rockier numbers from Leaders of the Free World, let's take the roof off this place!" Glancing up at the roof, I notice something descending... wait, that's not a mirrorball is it? Ohhh fffudge. Songs from TSSK and BARB! waltzed around each other for what seemed like eternity and nothing - NOTHING - from the first three albums was given a look-in. When, over an hour in, they finally did dig in to the back catalogue, they opted for Puncture Repair. Really? I guess they did play that live on a charity telethon once, so it's probably the best choice for the masses. The only non-TSSK or BARB! song they played on the main setlist.
More negatives... when did Guy Garvey become Bruce Forsyth?! Yes it is a big space you're playing in, and the urge to entertain must be there for a frontman, but your songs
are your entertainment. You don't need to spend 5 mins introducing each song, or get the 10,000 strong crowd to all start clicking at the same time for you to record for your ringtone, or insist on some lame-ass hand waving for songs that should have enough of a connection to generate a spontaneous reaction from your audience. Also, the size of the O2 and the amount of fairweather gig-goers meant that much of the performance was overshadowed by constant chatter and a steady stream of people barging by looking for the nearest PizzaExpress.
On the positive side, in the minimal encore (and just before they closed with 'that song') Elbow played Station Approach, the opening track on Leaders of the Free World. Joyous. I'd have gone to the O2 just to see them play that (and maybe a bit of Fugitive Motel thrown in for good measure). Also, it was really brilliant to hear Tower Crane Driver live for the first time.
Leaving the gig, I was rather torn about what I thought about it. A setlist that pretty much ignores 3/5s of their albums was hard to take. TSSK gave Elbow the profile that allows them to pack out the O2 (two nights in a row!) but does that mean these fans are the only ones you should play for? I'm made up that Elbow have made it, but also a little bereft as tonight was final confirmation, following three years of suspicions, that 'my' Elbow are no more. Musically they were spot on, Guy Garvey's voice has never sounded as rich (ironically) and vibrant, and the band themselves were clearly having a ball. I wish I could say I was too, but towards the end I just had the first line of Crawling With Idiot circling round my mind.
