This was a special gig in a lot of respects, not least because they played Fingers in the Factories again after a lengthy absence. It was also a "the boy done good" occasion for Elliott, who was returning home to play what I believe was his first ever show in Manchester as an Editor. It's worth mentioning that this was one of the first shows to sell out on this run of UK dates, and the crowd are completely present and vocally supportive throughout. The music here manages to be both supremely focused and sometimes deliciously sloppy simultaneously. In no way is that meant to be disparaging, just an observation, and I have a theory as to why that might be.
Editors Mark 2 had been a functioning live unit for just under one and a half years when this gig took place. As such, the majority of the people in
this band (Tom, Russell, Ed) had played the Back Room, AEHAS and ITLAOTE songs thousands of
times through shows and rehearsals. Justin and Elliott had yet to
achieve that level of muscle memory related to that material brought by repetition, purely because would have still been relatively new.
From a live perspective, bringing the songs from The Weight of Your Love album to an audience would have seen everyone involved starting at the same point..if that's all they'd be playing. However, as the setlists from this tour campaign were always going to be heavy with the back catalogue that was created before they joined, the experience advantage was always going to be tilted away from Justin and Elliott. Luckily, both of them had been in other groups so being on a stage was no unfamiliar, but they still had a considerable amount of more work to do than the others. Not only did they have to deliver the new tracks, they had to learn and faithfully present the ones they had no hand in writing. Considering that Mr Lockey didn't even own a guitar when he became a member of Editors, that's pretty remarkable.
I think that's where the edges that turn up in tracks like Bones come from; the continuing process of learning as you go, and the boundaries not being as firmly set as they would be if the music was totally familiar. Everything flows and runs as it should, but there are some great unscripted bursts of feedback here and there to add some spice. Enjoy the music ;)
MP3s
Intro - download here
Sugar - download here
Someone Says - download here
Smokers - download here
Bones - download here
ERM=BD - download here
All Sparks - download here
2HS - download here
YDKL - download here
Formaldehyde - download here
A Ton of Love - download here
AEHAS - download here
Bullets - download here
ITLAOTE - download here
Munich - download here
Racing Rats - download here
Honesty - download here
Fingers - download here
Bricks and Mortar - download here
Nothing - download here
Papillon - download here
Bonus Materials - 6 Towns Radio Interview
stream it here
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
