And so we arrive at an Editors gig where things just didn't go to plan. Editors played the Festival International de Benicassim, appearing on the Fiberfib.com stage on July 23rd 2006. Their set was plagued by sound problems, and it resulted in something that to my knowledge hadn't happened prior to this; Tom walked off stage mid-song. This is what went down.
The band launch into Lights, and then at about 1 minute into the song it's apparent that something just isn't right with Chris/Tom's guitars. Chris' makes a noise like it's been unplugged and Tom is strumming away with no sound coming from his. From that point until just after the 2 minute mark, Editors have essentially become a drum and bass group because that's all you can hear. They stop playing. Tom apologises before they kick back into Lights, but within a few seconds he throws his guitar to the floor and leaves the stage. The remaining Editors finish out the song, before Tom reappears and they continue their set with All Sparks.
One of the amazing things about performing music is the moment where you know how to play a song so well that you don't even need to think about it any more. It's like that idea of "muscle memory", where a person can just react automatically to any given situation. Now by this point in their lives as Editors, the band have played most of these songs a great many times. I would imagine that they would be able to just switch off the thinking part of the brain and just enjoy the experience of being wrapped up in these tunes. It's the thing that allows performers to get up to all kinds of craziness on stage (like climbing on top of pianos/other band members) whilst still delivering the songs in an way that's faithful to the recorded versions.
However, the minute you get any kind of equipment malfunction and you begin to focus on that, the joy of being lost in music disappears and you go back to the stress of making sure you're doing it right. Tom has said in a recent interview that he used to put all of his attention of playing the music as perfectly as possible in Editors' early days, whereas now he's more interested in a being a performer on stage. I would imagine that the added pressure of playing to such a huge crowd, and wanting to make the best possible first impression must have played a part too. The band were doing all the right things that usually worked for them, and it just wasn't happening here. So Mr Smith lost his cool and exited the stage, probably more in frustration than anger. If after the walkout he'd refused to leave his dressing room and the whole set ended up unfinished, then I would have to concede that this leaning more towards Axl Rose prima donna behaviour. But he didn't. He came back out and finished up the rest of the songs, like a professional.
For me, one thing that saves this show from utter disaster is the crowd. There's an awful lot of people listening, and you can tell from the start that they're behind the band and willing them on as they play. Check out their reaction at the beginning of All Sparks. It's something that isn't lost on Tom as he acknowledges at the end of the set. If you had to choose an appropriate set of lyrics as a summary:-
"Open your arms and welcome people to your town?"
They sure did.
But enough of my rambling, let's get on with the description of what's on offer. The video is sourced from Spanish TV, which means the quality is excellent. There's also a DVD, some audio files and as a bonus feature I've included a video shot from the press-pit in front of the stage, which shows a better angle of Tom throwing his guitar. It's something that you didn't really see in the TV broadcast. Enjoy the music ;)
Video - stream it here
MP3s
Lights (take 1) - download here
Lights (take 2) - download here
All Sparks - download here
Blood - download here
You Are Fading - download here
Fall - download here
Bullets - download here
Bones - download here
Munich - download here
On Your Arms - download here
Fingers - download here
Vob 1 - download here
Vob 2 - download here
Vob 3 - download here
Vob 4 - download here
Smaller files from the Video_TS folder - download here
Artwork - download here
Bonus Video - Press-pit view of Tom throwing guitar
stream it here
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
