You know it's the good stuff when Sven is taping.
Here's another contribution from a long time friend of the Archive, Sven. This time he was present at Tom's show in Hamburg on the 26th March 2026, and luckily for us he was recording the event. Many thanks again to you, Sven for passing this along. We appreciate it ;)
This was a set from the end of Phase 1 of what is Tom's 2026 solo tour in support of There is Nothing in the Dark That Isn't There in the Light. As refined and fluid as Nic and Tom's musical abilities may be, you just never know when the universe will attempt to force a sharp left turn in the proceedings. Something to put an unnatural stop in an otherwise smoothly running activity. With that in mind, I'll let Sven describe what went down on this particular night.
There were also a couple of funny moments during the show. I think it was during “Broken Time” when a beer bottle tipped over mid-song. On the church’s stone floor, you really couldn’t miss it. Tom casually added a quick “oops” into the lyrics, and Nicholas started laughing so much that they had to stop and restart the song (you can hear me very loud laughing) .
During “An End Has a Start,” the house lights suddenly came on. The look on his face… priceless. Then he just went with it and sang the fitting line:“Someone hit the light ’cause there’s more here to be seen” – and everyone cracked up.
The quality of Sven's recording means you can really hear that occasion of bottle meeting floor, and the subsequent laughter that accompanied it.
The next block of solo dates will be kicking off soon, and then there will be a slow wind-down to Tom once again becoming an Editor. I wonder if these smaller, intimate shows have perhaps evoked memories of a time when this was normality; when Editors were enough of an unknown quantity to be able play pubs and stare down the audience, as opposed to selling out the Ziggo Dome and gazing at them from a short distance? Will the return to larger stages during the summer festivals be a shock or a comforting return to familiarity?
Overall, I imagine there may be fleeting spells of disorientation, given that he's essentially doing the opposite of what Editors did prior to changing their touring behaviour after the first three albums; reducing the schedule to preserve both their sanity and their creative abilities. At the end of the EBM tour in 2024, Editors went offline. In September 2025 Tom went out on the road again to promote There is Nothing in the Dark, something he has done sporadically now for about 8 months. On paper, that looks like a year off between tours but of course he was recording the album during that time. Next, if Editors really are releasing their next record in 2026, then that record industry clock of a year and half to two years of promotional commitments will start again. Just in time to follow on from Tom's individual pursuits.
Granted, there have been "comfort breaks" like the one we are currently in, meaning it hasn't been as relentlessly grinding as the Back Room and AEHAS tours were. Even so, there have been rehearsals and recording of new Editors material during those prior rest interludes, meaning Tom's work momentum has never really fully dissipated for a good few years. You might say, there have been few instances of pure Nothingness.
If you haven't been out to see the fellas yet, go show them some love. These special evenings of being able to appreciate the songs in such enclosed spaces will probably be going away very, very soon. Enjoy the music ;)
MP3s
Deep Dive - download here
How Many Times - download here
Endings Are Breaking My Heart - download here
All the Kings - download here
The Weight - download here
Life Is for Living - download here
Honesty - download here
No Sound but the Wind - download here
Souls - download here
Broken Time (false start) - download here
Broken Time - download here
The Phone Book - download here
What Is This Thing Called Love - download here
Northern Line - download here
An End Has a Start - download here
Blood - download here
Leave - download here
Munich - download here
Ocean of Night - download here
Papillon - download here
It Ain't Me, Babe - download here
The Hills We Died Upon - download here
Lights of New York City - download here
Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors - download here
All in a Zip - download here
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love ;) x
