Let me say right from the start that this post belongs entirely to Jeff Galasso. Everything you see and hear was shot by him on the night and all I'm doing is archiving it, enjoying it and then passing it along to anyone who stops by this internet misery shack. I've done some MP3 rips for myself so that I had something to listen to when I'm reading, but they're yours if you want them. Many thanks to you Jeff for capturing this show, it's appreciated ;)
If you were thinking Tom might play it safe, you would have lost that bet. Not only are there two cover versions played here but one of them is extremely obscure, and absolutely unexpected. It feels like a thousand years since I've heard Evan Dando's name but one of his band's songs is on the setlist, as well as an old classic by The Big O. Eclectic indeed.
Andy Burrows is present for a large part of the show and he takes part in a reworking of Walk the Fleet Road. I felt a pang of anxiety when I saw this had been played because that song has a history that is little bit muddy, and quite sad. The synth outro on the album cut is something that Tom was never happy with, a point he made during their Sony press conference in 2014. So this would have been a time to play it his way, and perhaps rearrange the song into a more truncated format without that troublesome "afterthought" at the end. He didn't. Instead the song has had its basic structure and integrity untouched, but with some new harmonies added courtesy of Mr Burrows. It sounds so, so good. Walk the Fleet Road is already a favourite among quite a lot of the fanbase, myself included, so to hear it presented in way that holds what made it special while showing us all another angle is to be applauded. As I said before, he could have played it safe and ran through Munich, Smokers or Papillon but he recognised the uniqueness of the occasion and took a chance. I think it paid off. Kudos, Mr Smith.
The presence of Andy Burrows has raised a new question for me, and that is what would have happened if history had dictated something other than him playing in bands outside of Editors? What if Andy Burrows had been in Editors from the beginning? Would the music have been as dark as it was back then? We all know that the whole Smith and Burrows project took off because Tom was going through some real difficulties in his band at that time. Working with Andy gave him a creative outlet that was free of all the tortuous dramas that were unfolding in Editors. It seemed to let him smile again, without the guilt of breaking the unwelcome glum character traits that had been unfairly attributed to him as an Editor. Maybe it put him back in touch with his creative side, and of making things that didn't necessarily have to fit into some narrow indie cul de sac? He made a christmas record, for goodness' sakes! In terms of alternative music, that's a pretty good example in this case.
Plus, Andy Burrows is clearly a hyper creative individual and in much the same way I wonder about Justin Lockey, does he ever get a full night's sleep? The energy that he possesses is so infectious. Go back and watch him performing Nothing with Editors in the film that Rahi did at Utrecht last year. He's bouncing around like the most positive thinking Fraggle on the rock. And yes, I'm aware that a good section of the audience that is reading this has no idea what the hell a Fraggle even is. They looked like Andy Burrows during Nothing is all you need to know. I'm not even sure Editors would have been the same group at all, had he been a part of their formative years.
So what would Editors have been like with Andy as a full time member and what would he even have played? The drums? Guitar? Maybe some keys? I know that this is just idle daydreaming on my part but it's really got me thinking about it a lot lately. I just hope that he maintains a regular presence around Editors because he compliments them so well. I'd like to say that Razorlight don't know what they lost, but I suspect that in their more contemplative moments, they know. Enjoy the music ;)
MP3s
Blood - download here
All the Kings - download here
Bullets - download here
The Outdoor Type - download here
All the Best Moves - download here
Walk the Fleet Road - download here
You Got It - download here
All in a Zip - download here
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
