"My name is Tom, you are Hamburg, and everything is OK...cool"
Another gift from Sven up next, as we revisit Editors' show at Hamburg Docks on the 25th October 2013. Thanks again for your kindness, Sven.
The sound quality on this capture is everything you hope for when you're seeking out bootlegs, as you can really appreciate every element of what you're hearing. As this was the TWOYL campaign, there are songs here from that album that you may have forgotten about. Music that is worth listening to again without the contextual bias that folks might have possessed at that time. Honesty feels like it got lost to history along the way somehow, and I hope it's not forever. The Phone Book at Hamburg Docks is awesome. Everything from the extremely respectful audience reaction to it, to Tom's occasionally raspy vocals and Justin's restrained guitar work towards the end. It's beautiful.
There's also an appearance by one of Editors' most effective songs in the form of Like Treasure. The original with Chris is always going to be in my top 3 absolute favourite Editors songs (so far), but this take is very good. I can remember quite clearly the lingering indignation in some quarters that surrounded this track being played after Chris' departure, even though we were actually year and a half removed from that event. How dare Justin even listen to that song, let alone play it! The truth is that it's no different to any of the music created before April 2012 when his time in the band was over; it's either all fair game or it's all off limits. If it's the latter, then Editors gigs would have been very, very short in 2013 and would contain only new material written without him. Instead, we have to view them as Editors songs that Chris gave a major contribution to, but that now stand alone from that creative process as little pieces of art in their own right, able to be appreciated for as long as this band continue. Why shouldn't a fan that discovers this band later than the die-hards like myself get to hear Someone Says or Bones when Editors play at a show they attend? Being too precious can only reduce possibilities.
Justin begins the song by playing Chris' exit riff from the ITLAOTE recording, but that's not the only structural adjustment. If you concentrate on the end of the second verse you'll notice that Tom doesn't provide the usual "You are what you eat" lead-in to the chorus. He also changes the lyrics "living out our second-hand cliches.." back to the line in the original demo that's a little more colourful. I love the attention to the details that includes the return of the slowed-down vocal bleeds behind Tom during the chorus, something they used to work around back in 2009 with Ed signing along instead.
This was another Editors show when the vibes were really positive, and you can hear it in the banter between some of the songs. I'm thinking in particular of when Tom checks in with the crowd before Munich. I'm looking at you, all you cats in the balcony who are playing hard to get. Enjoy the music ;)
The Setlist
Intro - download here
Sugar - download here
Someone Says - download here
Smokers - download here
Bones - download here
ERM=BD - download here
Two Hearted Spider - download here
You Don't Know Love - download here
All Sparks - download here
Formaldehyde - download here
A Ton of Love - download here
Like Treasure - download here
An End Has a Start - download here
Bullets - download here
ITLAOTE - download here
The Phone Book - download here
Munich - download here
The Racing Rats - download here
Honesty - download here
Bricks and Mortar - download here
Nothing - download here
Papillon - download here
Everything in a zip - download here
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
