**UPDATED 23rd November 2022 - Added audience recording**
This is the third and final gift from TheServant, an audience recording of Editors playing the Camden Barfly in May of 2005. Thanks a lot for passing this and your other lost gems my way, I really appreciate it. Files are being shared in FLAC format in accordance with the taper's wishes.
Before it's identity reconfiguration to Radio X, Editors' appearances on XFM were always fun. If you're a rabid fan like me (and I suspect like you too) it was also a great source for material to feed your addiction. That station was a consistent champion of the group. John Kennedy is the compère on this night, and he's the one giving the band their introduction to the crowd. In the audience recording you can hear the whole thing from start to finish, something that was originally missing from the XFM broadcast. Both are available below so you can compare the two sources.
In spite of having been together for almost 3 years, in 2005 the band were still in the process of being formed. They had all the requisite ability, but the finesse that comes with experience and confidence had yet to be applied. Aside from discovering who he was on stage, Tom is clearly still in the process of finding and using his voice, just not in the measured way that he does now. It would grow to become an instrument that he was able to adapt to and control in real time, but here it seems like he's trying to throw rope around a whirlwind. Listen to Someone Says, or the beginning of Blood to see what I mean.
Then again, that's what made seeing them so exciting. Their early live shows sound similar to their recorded output, just with an extra shot of adrenaline added. Later on, and in particular when Elliott joined the band, they purposefully changed the sound of the material (extending Papillon, blurring songs into each other etc.), making it less of a side effect of nerves and novelty and more intentional. Also bear in mind that The Back Room hadn't even been released yet, and they were still riding on that slow momentum they'd been buidling up through extensive touring and playing.
One thing that is very clear even 17 years ago in 2005, is just how solid Editors' rhythm section was. Ed and Russell provide the same reliable canvas onto which these often messy works are cast, a trait that has continued to the present. In 2022, and according to those in the know, they were the ones that had the biggest impact on making EBM sound more human. This is especially true when they play the songs from that record live. That kind of consistency is a rare thing in a band that's been around this long.
This set is all Back Room (only Distance and Camera are missing) and there were no b-sides are aired. The band were still ending the set with Open Your Arms, but Fingers is inching closer to its more familiar position as a gig-ending strobe-fest that it became over the years that followed. It's odd hearing it end so cleanly here.
In addition to the audio there's also low-quality video of the performance which is presented here exactly as it aired on the XFM website, and as such it is best watched small. Even so, it's full of fun instances and you really get to see the beginning state from which all the future transformations occurred. Enjoy the music ;)
Audience Recording (FLAC)
1. Someone Says - download here
2. Bullets - download here
3. Blood - download here
4. Fall - download here
5. Lights - download here
6. All Sparks - download here
7. Munich - download here
8. Fingers In The Factories - download here
9. Open Your Arms - download here
2. Bullets - download here
3. Blood - download here
4. Fall - download here
5. Lights - download here
6. All Sparks - download here
7. Munich - download here
8. Fingers In The Factories - download here
9. Open Your Arms - download here
Text File - download here
MD5 File - download here
All in a Zip - download here
1. Someone Says - download here
2. Bullets - download here
3. Blood - download here
4. Fall - download here
5. Lights - download here
6. All Sparks - download here
7. Munich - download here
8. Fingers In The Factories - download here
9. Open Your Arms - download here
Video - stream it here
brought to you with lots of lemming-love :) x
