**UPDATED 9th April 2020 - The band very generously released a pro-shot version of the show for fans. I've included theirs here, as well as my version which contains the missing two songs. Many thanks to them for sharing**
After completing a sold out club tour prior to this, the band signed on to do 6 dates in larger venues around the country. It was a test and in many ways a gamble to see if they would be able to fill bigger spaces that were, in the case of Alexandra Palace, double the size they were used to. Looking back, this can be viewed almost as a trial run of what they would achieve down the line in Mainland Europe, where venues like Werchter have an audience capacity that's 8 times the size of Alexandra Palace. What began as 6 gigs ended up being 7, after they sold out the first night at the Ally Pally and it's that second show that we're concentrating on here. If you want the full list of dates then they're available in this post.
A I recall the night before there were sound issues during Editors' set, which were not helped by beer being tossed over the mixing desk at one point, making it less than successful as a debut. Luckily for us, things ran a little more to schedule on the 6th March, allowing for a full set without any problems or interruptions.
But for a small acoustic break where Tom and Russell play Push Your Head Towards the Air on guitar and piano respectively, this is a lively electric affair. Chris' guitar slices through the smoother moments, Russell is able to support not just the weight of each track but also his wayward frontman (details below), Ed has the kick drum of death which keeps the time and I'm sure rattled the ribs of anyone within earshot (see The Weight of the World) and Mr Smith is the gloomy whirlwind at the front of stage that sells it all with passion and energy in spades.
Editors trivia buffs will note that this is the only show on the Spring tour where they played Fall. It's a song which Tom dedicates to "Peter and the gang" who, if you didn't already know, were the moderators of the band's original official forum.
Watch out for Tom climbing onto Russell at the beginning of Lullaby. When I saw them live in 2007 Mr Smith climbed onto the piano (I believe it was during Smokers), and leaned out to put one foot on Russell's shoulder. Given what we know now about gravity and the way it eventually caught up with the singer in this band, it's amazing that he didn't fall over then. This time around, not content with jumping onto the piano again and bouncing across the stage, he takes it upon himself to initiate an impromptu piggy-back from King Leetch. Russell, stoic as ever, simply continues laying down basslines like nothing happened. Powerful King Leetch!
One more thing to say about this show is that copies of it were originally sold on ebay for a fair bit of money, which is a bit insulting considering you weren't getting a pro-shot gig and the sound goes out of sync late into the show. All that changed when a member of the trading community bought one and immediately made it available for free to anyone that wanted it. I hope that I can offer that same alternative to anyone who is considering paying for live Editors material. Take a look around the blog, it might be here and if I have it, it's yours. After all, we're all fans and I don't want to see you folks getting ripped off. With that in mind...
Official Version - stream it here
Lemming Archive Version - stream it here
MP3s
Camera - download here
An End Has a Start - download here
Blood - download here
Bullets - download here
The Weight of the World - download here
Escape the Nest - download here
Lights - download here
When Anger Shows - download here
Spiders - download here
Lullaby - download here
All Sparks - download here
Munich - download here
PYHTTA (acoustic) - download here
Bones - download here
Fall - download here
Fingers in the Factories - download here
The Racing Rats - download here
You Are Fading - download here
Smokers - download here
All in a Zip - download here
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
