Music For Life is a concert that will be remembered as a celebration of Editors' music and their Special Relationship with a certain nationality, as well as raising money for a good cause. It was also as the night that Mr Smith somehow managed to escape breaking a limb or dislocating a shoulder onstage. Damn that piano stool.
This was the final show of 2017 and they decided to do it in the country that probably loves them more than any other in the world. It's a big claim, I know. But it's apparent every time they play over there. Belgium really gets Editors, and it always has. Luckily for us, we had a small number of the faithful who managed to text lucky, snag tickets and are in attendance as I typed this originally. Congratulations to you all, I hope you had an amazing night out.
This was the final show of 2017 and they decided to do it in the country that probably loves them more than any other in the world. It's a big claim, I know. But it's apparent every time they play over there. Belgium really gets Editors, and it always has. Luckily for us, we had a small number of the faithful who managed to text lucky, snag tickets and are in attendance as I typed this originally. Congratulations to you all, I hope you had an amazing night out.
A word of warning; the live audio broadcast below courtesy of Studio Brussel contains the full set as it aired. I was going to remove all the DJ chatter and station idents that they drop in to deter bootleggers, but it really doesn't interfere with the music which is all I care about. They're actually strangely respectful and don't end up talking over anything, which is very unusual. Studio Brussel are cool like that. Plus, there's just something more authentic about hearing it the same way that everyone else did on the night.
The setlist is the one that they've been sharpening up throughout the festival mini-campaign, and luckily for us has within it all four of the new tracks Cold, Hallelujah (So Low), Magazine and The Pulse. There's a sprinkling of older numbers in there too, which shows that they haven't entirely turned their backs on the formative years just yet.
I'm noticing as I'm listening to this is that the guitars are louder than usual, and they're feeding back. It happens most prominently at the end of Magazine and after the handclaps during Hallelujah (So Low) in the same way it did at Kendal Calling and it infuses everything with that sloppy, controlled aggression. I love it. The vocal effects on that track are also more pronounced during the chorus.
Once again, the crowd were what really made this show everything it was. The fact that most of them had to make a concerted effort to be in the building definitely helped, and produced a heightened level of attentiveness. The handclaps during ERM=BD, The Pulse and Smokers, and the way they all keep time during the Ocean of Night clapping where other audiences have failed. The way someone shouts "Magazine! Yes!" as the first notes of that song start, and then they all go deathly quiet as Tom's vocals come in. A truly switched-on bunch of cats. Enjoy the music ;)
The Setlist
Cold
Sugar
Racing Rats
Blood
All Sparks
Hallelujah (So Low)
ERM=BD
Magazine
An End Has a Start
Smokers
The Pulse
Ocean of Night
A Ton of Love
Marching Orders
Papillon
Video
Nuked on youtube, available to download here
Studio Brussel audio broadcast
stream it here
MP3s
By popular demand, here's some single mp3s taken from the video soundtrack, meaning they don't have the voice-overs that Studio Brussel put on their radio broadcast.
Cold (with intro) - download here
Sugar - download here
Racing Rats - download here
Blood - download here
All Sparks - download here
Hallelujah (So Low) - download here
ERM=BD - download here
Magazine - download here
An End Has a Start - download here
Smokers - download here
The Pulse - download here
Ocean of Night - download here
A Ton of Love - download here
Marching Orders - download here
Papillon - download here
Up first is Editors being interviewed by StuBru as part of the big reveal of just how much money they helped to raise in aid of Music for Life. I've left the entire video intact as it aired during the live Facebook broadcast, which means you get to hear them setting everything up in the background and the little bits and pieces after they're done.
There's nothing more awkward than seeing all five members of the group all squashed into one small area, for an interview. What doesn't help to ease the proximity tension is that one person in the group is misbehaving. Keep your eye on King Leetch at the start of the video, as he does everything in his power to get Elliott to break his composure. Arm around the shoulder, even stroking his ear at one point and all with a knowing grin. He's no stranger to this kind of thing, as witnessed in his subtle harassment of Ed during the Play to Stop concert in 2009. For shame, sir!
Well done to everyone who texted and took part, good job ;)
Next is a tiny clip of Mr Smith thanking all you generous folks who donated in total a very impressive €124,309 to Oxfam in the hopes of catching them live tonight at Ancienne Belgique. Editors fans may be glum but they have a wonderful sense of compassion. A glum sense of compassion. Compassion with a world-weary sigh etc etc.
Here's a short film by Studio Brussel that follows fans as they attend the show, presented in the language of its country of origin.
stream it here
stream it here
stream it here
It's a move he's executed successfully so many times; climbing on the piano and standing on top but for whatever reason it didn't work out this time around. He slips, twists and effectively takes all his body weight on his left arm when he lands on the stage. Luckily, Mr Smith is slight of frame and so there wasn't a whole lot of mass to deal with but this can officially be classed as a lucky escape. He's fortunate that he didn't break a wrist or his arm in the process because it's a pretty nasty fall. From the perspective of one human seeing another so obviously suffering, it's actually difficult to watch. Especially the seconds that follow him landing where he's essentially crawling around the stage in agony, I suspect with a mixture of "Oh shit, that really hurts" and "I can't believe that just happened" running through his mind. Thank goodness for adrenaline and shock because that's probably what got him through Papillon.
stream it here or download here
Prior to the gig, King Leetch and Mr Smith did a small ident to make people aware of it. Check it out ;)
stream it here
And if you want some cruel irony, then Russell predicted this 11 years go when he introduced Tom on Japanese TV:-
Oddity #10 - Japanese Introductions
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
