Words and Pictures: Adrian Hextall / MindHex Media
It’s no surprise that one of London’s bigger venues, the gorgeous, top of the hill, views to die for, Alexandra Palace, was completely sold out. The The are back. The last time they toured in the UK was 2018 and the last time they released a new album was almost a quarter of a century ago. As such, the show that Matt Johnson brought to London was a set of two halves. New music needs to be celebrated so with no support, the band arrived on stage at a little after 7:45pm with Johnson announcing the format would be Set 1: Ensoulment, performing the new album in track order in full and then Set 2: Retrospect with a short 15 minute break in between the two.
“The first set will be for listening, the second for jumping” said the ever dry Johnson. And so, without further ado, the band launched into a track by track performance of ‘Ensoulment’. Prior to commencement, when the tickets were issued to people, we’d been asked to put our phones away, to enjoy the show, to just “be in the moment”. Of the ten or so thousand people present in the packed venue, looking round, it’s fair to say 99% of the audience complied and with minimal stage lighting, it made the show far more atmospheric and more importantly it wasn’t ruined by a sea of phone screens recording iffy quality footage.
Set One – Ensoulment
Being the first The The album in almost 25 years, ‘Ensoulment’ is receiving a lot of scrutiny under the microscope from critics and fans alike. As is the norm these days, the album has been preceded with singles and videos so even those who haven’t heard it in full were able to recognise some of the material on offer at the venue. While Johnson has released music in those intervening years, this is THE music we’d been waiting for and given the heyday for the band was when he was tired of the state of the country, the height of Thatcherism, it seems fitting that he returns now with his viewpoints on the stage of the nation once again.
Lead single, Cognitive Dissident, also opens the album and the set, summing up his viewpoints on life right now an it’s one of the more upbeat tempo led tracks on offer. Looking at the world around us, reflecting on the amount of false information seeping into our very existence these days, it’s not surprising he asked for phones to be switched off and for the crowd to simply listen to what he had to say. [Check out the official video for the single below for an idea].
If our attention needed to be fixed on the band even more then ‘Zen and the Art of Dating’, which echos the efforts we have undergone in an age when swiping left and right can determine our fate and future relationships. If it seems like art is reflecting on daily life, then it is and you were clearly paying attention and rightly so.
‘Kissing the Ring of POTUS’, hammered home the political message and it’s fair to say that it couldn’t come at a better time with the next US election coming up in a month or so. It’s one of the catchier tracks on the album and there was definitely noticeable ‘swaying’ from the audience who, whilst respectful of the new music, were still willing to be a part of the show and cheer Matt and the band along when necessary. Shades of ‘Heartland’ perhaps which of course we all knew would follow after the intermission.
If the new album is anything to go by then the beats per minute on the music has dropped somewhat. Johnson’s music may still contain biting lyrics and more importantly enough melody to engage the crowd but this new material definitely acts more like the thinking man’s revolutionary rather than the angry pop activist of 30+ years ago.
The gap in new music from The The does however make us all crave for more and that certainly explains the sold out venue. The absence both of 6 years of touring and a quarter century of new music can be put down to the loss of family members in that time and also personal health issues, both of which were eluded to whilst singing ‘Where Do We Go When We Die’ and ‘Linoleum Smooth to the Stockinged Foot’.
Come the end of the first half, some of those who were unfamiliar with the new material were finding solace in the bar but they soon moved when the snappy electronic sounds of ‘Infected’ drifted out from the doorways.
Set 2: Retrospect
And so to the classics, the major draw for the majority of people, often to the chagrin of musicians who not unreasonably will always want to showcase new music. The public are however a fickle lot and it’s a smart move leaving the classics to the end as the event is guaranteed to end on a high. The aforementioned ‘Infected’ (my personal favourite of all The The numbers) kick started the set and immediately the hands were raised, the smiles were wide and, as predicted (or instructed) by Johnson, the jumping commenced.
Now a The The gig is unlikely to elicit a mosh pit but from the off, the crowd moved as one, swaying, bouncing and singing the hits loud and clear back to the band.
The pause on ‘Heartland’ that allowed the crowd to chant “This is the 51st State of the USA” back to the band brought forth a rare smile of appreciation from Matt who normally looks so engrossed in what he’s doing that he almost forgets that a crowd are even in attendance.
‘This is the Day’ and the encore’s ‘Uncertain Smile’ remain as powerful today as they did on the debut released four decades ago. Strangely, ‘Sweet Bird of Truth’ feels more apparent today than ever before and is quite frightening as a result. Maybe it wasn’t a case of when The The were ready to return to the music industry but that the world needs The The to point out the flaws once more because we don’t seem able to do it ourselves.
I’ll make a few mentions to the other band members as the supplementary and backing vocal work of Barrie Cadogan who’s also the lead guitarist was just sublime. He managed to do all of the vocal fills and accompaniments for what feels like multiple singers and does so with ease. On tracks like ‘Heartland’ and ‘Infected’ he provided, on his own, a full chorus line at times. Having watched him do similar in Cambridge, this was no fluke and the lad is seriously talented.
It was also great to see and hear both James Eller (bass) and keyboard player DC Collard doing their thing and for those who’ve followed the band for decades, getting the bulk of the old line up is always a plus. Now on drums. a great sound was heard but whilst I was expecting Earl Harvin, James has confirmed that it is in fact Chris Whitten, who has some serious pedigree behind him thanks to his time with The Waterboys, Julian Cope, Paul McCartney and many more.
Overall this was a hugely welcome return for the band. Having seen them perform one of their warm up shows in Cambridge, with just a handful of new songs on offer, I now count myself lucky having been able to hear the whole of ‘Ensoulment’ as there’s no telling if that will happen again in the future. The 40th anniversary of ‘Infected’ is coming up… now that in full would be another reason to do something similar.
SETLIST
Ensoulment
Cognitive Dissident
Some Days I Drink My Coffee by the Grave of William Blake
Zen & the Art of Dating
Kissing the Ring of POTUS
Life After Life
I Want to Wake Up With You
Down by the Frozen River
Risin’ Above the Need
Linoleum Smooth to the Stockinged Foot
Where Do We Go When We Die?
I Hope You Remember (The Things I Can’t Forget)
A Rainy Day in May
Retrospect
Infected
Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)
The Sinking Feeling
Heartland
The Whisperers
Love Is Stronger Than Death
August & September
Slow Emotion Replay
This Is the Day
Icing Up
Dogs of Lust
Sweet Bird of Truth
Lonely Planet
Encore:
Uncertain Smile
GIANT
The tour continues around the world. Details in the link below:
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