As well as the novelty of a beardless Lockey on guitar, this show has a sturdy setlist that is well equipped to lay waste to most audiences on any given night. It also possesses a few songs which rarely get played anymore, if at all.
There's The Phone Book, which I confess that I become more fond of the further away we get from its official release. It's like the slowest earworm in history, and I have no clue as to why that is. Then there's Honesty which has been absent from the running order for way too long, in my opinion. It's interesting to see Like Treasure in the setlist, as it was for most of the 2013 shows on this campaign. Unlike Two Hearted Spider which almost became an entirely new song after Chris, this one was taken from its cold, shiver-producing electronic state and edged further into guitar territory. It's good, but I'm not sure it's 100% as effective in that form. I do have a theory why, if you'll indulge me?
Like Treasure, always seemed at its best when the band were forced to be more static. If you go back and watch the version done at Fabric in 2009, you'll see what I mean. The very act of restricting everybody's movement and making it all so much more compact, gave it an energy that you could sense just by watching. The fact that there's so little stage room to explore for Russell, that Ed has to sing the parts during the chorus where Tom's vocal tracks sustain/bleed on record and also play at the same time, Chris having to play the electronics and then guitar etc etc. The biggest factor, for me anyway, is that Tom is tied to the synth for that underlying keyboard line that runs through the full song. He can move, but not very far and as we've already seen in the past Mr Smith does tend to take a lot of energy out on the stage with him. That pressure-cooker of intensity starts to manifest in some slight and subtle ways as he performs. Little facial gestures and accents on certain words etc. As an example, watch just before he starts the "I used to want to be you..." refrain. There's some left-hand movements like he's conducting the music, but always with the right hand firmly holding down the notes of the song he's currently attached to. He's in it, and he can't quite break free of it. I think that push and pull was what made it such a great live number.
The 2013 version of Like Treasure has most of that pressure taken off, because both Elliott and Justin had made the need to alternate between keys and guitars redundant, as well as freeing up Tom to sing and play the guitar without that anchor securing him in place. Also, Ed could just concentrate on just battering the crap out of his kit rather than having to keep time and hold notes. I feel like it's that relaxation that may have robbed it of some of its impact, but I could be wrong. It's not that it's awful, because Like Treasure is still a great song in this form, it just feels different.
Legal disclosure: I am in possession of an undeniable bias because ITLAOTE is my favourite Editors album, and Like Treasure may be my favourite Editors song, so I guess I would say that wouldn't I?
One thing I absolutely love about the 2013 versions of Like Treasure is the intro from Justin, which is the original line that Chris used to play as the song neared its end. A sort of musical full circle. I'm not sure if it was the intention but it felt like a knowing nod to the man himself every time I heard it. If so, it was a really nice touch.
Before I go, there's lots of crowd shots during this show that reveal that some of "our people" made it into the audience that night, which is always a nice bonus. Hope you all had fun ;)
stream it here
01. Sugar - download here
02. Someone Says - download here
03. An End Has A Start - download here
04. Munich - download here
05. Bones - download here
06. ERM=BD - download here
07. Two Hearted Spider - download here
08. You Don't Know Love - download here
09. All Sparks - download here
10. Formaldehyde - download here
11. Bullets - download here
12. A Ton Of Love - download here
13. Like Treasure - download here
14. Fingers - download here
15. The Phone Book - download here
16. The Racing Rats - download here
17. Smokers - download here
18. Honesty - download here
19. Bricks And Mortar - download here
20. Nothing - download here
21. Papillon - download here
All MP3s in a Zip - download here
Here's a 6 minute interview with Tom and Russell about all the major topics of the day, including touring, their brand new album The Weight of Your World (sack the researcher) and the inevitable painful stroll down Chris Avenue. As a point of note, the gig that's mentioned during the interview where they played their first ever German show at the "Introducing Festival", is also available in an earlier post here at The Archive by clicking on this link.
stream it herebrought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
