These are the things that the present and the future are built upon.
Editors played the second show of the Black Gold Tour in Dusseldorf on the 31st January 2020, and we had a friend of the Archive in attendance. Sven has donated recordings in the past and once again, he was on the scene and equipped to capture some memories. Fitting, because that's the undeniable theme of this tour; highlighting the colours, shapes and inspiration that acts as the foundation for everything we love and will experience in the future from Editors. Thank you Sven, it's very much appreciated.
I had some minor misgivings about the whole Greatest Hits tour idea, and I'll tell you why. This band are fuelled by forward momentum, so much so that it's almost a component of the creative process, along with the desire to never repeat themselves. Yet, here they are embarking on a tour cycle that will see them referencing their past heavily night after night, effectively stalling their future progress. I was wondering if it would have the effect of being weighted boots on their feet, but it honestly seems from the limited exposure I've had to this tour so far that the opposite is true.
They've decided to go all in. No fear, some trepidation but maybe there's room just a little bit of pride? It's deserved.
The spirit of total celebration and historical acknowledgement is present here, but through the music there's a statement that this will be an appreciation of Editors' past, but with a twist. From the opening track on the setlist you can hear that this is Editors' music being played by Editors. Sounds obvious, but for the longest time there has been such an obvious schism between lineup one and lineup two; some tunes belonged to Editors Mk1 and the others are associated with Mk2. What this show demonstrates is that the didn't have to go out onstage and impersonate themselves as they were as far back as 15 years ago; they could honour the back catalogue but still make them sound contemporary. Take the new intro to An End Has a Start, which almost gives a fresh personality to a song they've said previously is one they may be occasionally weary of playing. The way they used a brand new piece of walk-on music to slide into it, thus stamping the past with some modern relevance really sets the tone for all that comes after. Also, that blend from Frankenstein into Papillon is genius. It's a move they've practiced with other songs (Violence into No Harm, or Papillon into Marching Orders for example) and it seems like they've really got a handle on the technique. It works.
MP3s
An End Has a Start - download here
Bullets - download here
Bones - download here
Escape the Nest - download here
Magazine - download here
Sugar - download here
Upside Down - download here
Violence - download here
Frankenstein / Papillon - download here
Ocean of Night - download here
The Weight of the World - download here
Spiders - download here
A Ton of Love - download here
Formaldehyde - download here
Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool - download here
Blood - download here
Fingers in the Factories - download here
Walk the Fleet Road - download here
You Are Fading - download here
Distance - download here
The Racing Rats - download here
Munich - download here
Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors - download here
A long time friend to the Archive, Annemarie got in touch to pass along 4 clips she filmed on the night of the show. You can check them out at her profile using the links below, many thanks for sharing ;)
Sugar
Ocean of Night
