Here's an absolutely sensational outing for the band at the Bataclan in Paris, during April 2008. I don't have the details of the taper, so if this was you then thanks very much for sharing.
During Editors' early days on the road there was occasionally a cover version lurking around the setlist somewhere, be it their take on Talking Heads' Road to Nowhere or R.E.M.'s Orange Crush. In 2008, they were playing Lullaby by the Cure. That came about because they were asked to choose a song to contribute to a CD celebrating Radio 1's 40th Anniversary in 2007. Something I love about the story of Editors are the times when destiny appears to be taking notes and intervening at random intervals. This was one of them, as almost exactly a decade after this gig at the Bataclan, Robert Smith himself would reach out the group and invite them to play at the British Summer Time festival that he curated. It's a similar situation to R.E.M. inviting the band to play with them towards the end of 2008. From being a fan to sharing a stage.
This set includes a lost track (and I really do mean lost, considering how long it's been since we've heard it live) in the form of Banging Heads. It's a song
which may or not have been some calculated misdirection on the part of
the group as to their musical intentions on album 3. I think the doubt comes from the fact that it was a bridge between the An End Has a Start era and In This Light and on This Evening. After 2 full length records that leaned into guitars in such a definite way, ITLAOTE didn't. Before we knew what we know, Banging Heads was one of the few clues we had as to where they would go next, and it suggested a continuation of anthemic, loud guitar music. It turns out it was no clue at all. I wonder if it was actually never the declaration of intent it appeared to be, and we as fans simply saw and heard what we wanted to, or did the band simply change their mind once they started recording and not feeling the same love they had for the six strings? It reminds me a lot of Radiohead's journey from the Pixies-inspired riffs and song structuring of Pablo Honey and The Bends to ending up with OK Computer. That third record seems like an anomaly in comparison to its predecessors, but it's become one of their most revered collection of recordings.
If you discovered the band post The Weight of Your Love or you'd
forgotten just what original guitarist Chris actually brought to the
band in their previous incarnation, this will act as an extremely vivid
reminder. Enjoy the music ;)
stream it here
stream it here
FLAC Audio
01.Camera - download here
02.AEHAS - download here
03.Blood - download here
04.Bullets - download here
05.WOTW - download here
06.Escape The Nest - download here
07.Lights - download here
08.WAS - download here
09.Banging Heads - download here
10.Lullaby - download here
11.All Sparks - download here
12.Munich - download here
13.PYHTTA - download here
14.Bones - download here
15.Fingers - download here
16.Encore - download here
17.Racing Rats - download here
18.You Are Fading - download here
19.Smokers - download here
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
