Elbow at Wembley Arena
A year ago, Elbow were getting ready to release their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid. It’s 364 days on from then and following yet more critical acclaim, a Mercury Prize, commercial success and a Brit award, Guy Garvey and his gang have been on a victory lap of the UK. It all culminated with a performance at Wembley Arena. It’s the biggest headlining show in their history and it’s a quite a step up from the intimate surroundings of the Camden Roundhouse (the last venue they played whilst in London). By the end of the evening, there were smiles all round whether it be from the band, the crowd – which included their friends and family – or even the stewards.
They opened with a triple whammy from the album that got them here in the first place. Starlings arrives with a triumphant fanfare followed promptly by The Bones Of You and the tender Mirrorball. As this is Wembley Arena, the band also saw fit to bring out Richard Hawley for their collaboration on The Fix. The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver and Some Riot, two tracks that excel on the album, are both captivating to watch. Then there are the two crowd pleasers – Grounds For Divorce and One Day Like This – both completely different songs but both unify the thousands of fans.
Their older songs also were well-received by the crowd, proving that isn’t an audience set to come alive for only two songs. Leaders Of The Free World, from the album of the same name, draws a great response as does Forget Myself and Station Approach from the same album. Even cuts from their first album, 2001′s Asleep In The Back, are popular, with the touching Newborn one of the best songs of the evening as Guy Garvey croons his way through whilst gently strumming his acoustic guitar. Switching Off, the only track from Cast Of Thousands that was played, was also noteworthy.
Guy Garvey was on his usual charismatic form, getting the audience to sing along to lines from The Stops and another lyrical verse with Guy saying that if it was good enough it might make the cut for their next record, before joking: “We’re not paying you.” The band themselves are as tight as ever and have comfortably moved up to the realms of arenas, complete with a great lighting show alongside simple but nice visuals. There were perhaps a couple of times where it seemed almost too try-hard, like the acoustic intro to Weather To Fly that mirrors Coldplay’s acoustic renditions of Yellow on their recent tour, but all can be forgiven.
In general though this was an assured, confident and rousing performance that sent the crowd going home happy – it has been a while since I’ve overheard people saying how good a concert was on the way back to the underground station – with a well-picked setlist and charisma throughout. It was not only the triumphant finale of a UK victory lap but also the arrival of Elbow into the big league. Long may they stay there.
The setlist:
Starlings
The Bones Of You
Mirrorball
Leaders Of The Free World
The Stops
The Fix
Mexican Standoff
Forget Myself
Grounds For Divorce
The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver
Switching Off
Newborn
Weather To Fly
One Day Like This
Some Riot
Station Approach
Scattered Black And Whites
Special mention should also go to The Acorn who delivered a great supporting performance. I’ll tell you more about them later in the week. You can find more pictures on my Flickr account.
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Posted on March 16th, 2009 by Max
Filed under: Gigs, Reviews
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