Music / Review
Review: Belle & Sebastian, Lloyd’s Amphitheatre – ‘They could have gone on all night and still left the crowd wanting more’
This is proper National Treasure stuff. We’re in Helen Mirren territory here, Brian Blessed territory, Bernard Cribbins territory. Belle & Sebastian at Bristol Harbourside should be awarded some kind of a blue plaque, they should be granted English (or Scottish) Heritage status.
Towards the end of a set of massive favourites Stuart Murdoch tipped his hat and said “Bristol, this is the highlight of our summer”. Maybe he says that to every sea of smiling faces, bathed in moonlight under stars and seagulls. Maybe he doesn’t.
While Bristol slowly cranked up to celebrate the Harbour Festival a whole mass of ‘people of a certain age’ were being washed away on great waves of orchestral indie-pop, bed-sit longing and love. Dog on Wheels and then Wrapped up in Books is an absolute killer one-two in anyone’s language; the band started the show with them and it just got better from there.
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The first thing you notice is just how strong Murdoch’s voice is. It’s not the cracked and reedy thing you might expect, there’s no apologetic, indie mumble here rather his is the voice of a showman.
He absolutely nails Unnecessary Drama, from the latest album A Bit of Previous, Stevie Jackson’s wailing harmonica acting as the perfect foil to a voice custom built for skewed pop music.
All of this after a battle with chronic fatigue syndrome; Murdoch shuffles like a boxer, leaps onto his piano, dances like a Slinky. He’s some kind of awkward-boy pop god.
She’s Losing It causes an outbreak of middle-aged swaying with indie-girl frocks, pulled from the back of wardrobes, and Smiths te-shirts, pulled tight over slightly expanded waistlines, grooving happily.
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There were delighted hands-in-the-air for the recorder solo in The Boy with the Arab Strap and audible swoons as Murdoch sashayed his Liza Minnelli strut as he segued into a storming Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Both the later songs were dedicated to the posh girls of Clifton, as was The Wrong Girl. Chuckles ensued, of course.
I Want the World to Stop was given proper rock song heft by the nine musicians on stage, complete with sweeping James Bond vibes. Get Me Away from Here, I’m Dying was simply adored, revered as the classic that it is.
Reclaim the Night saw Sarah Martin taking lead vocals on a new, glorious, feminist electro-pop anthem and Sleep the Clock Around ended the set with handclaps, trumpets, lights and euphoria.
It’s extraordinary when a band plays a set of certifiable classics but still leaves so many brilliant songs un-played. Belle and Sebastian could have carried on deep into the night and still left the packed crowd wanting just one more. That said, the encore of Lazy Line Painter Jane (simply the greatest single ever to peak at number 41 in the charts) and Judy and The Dream of Horses were just about as good as indie-pop gets.
Someone give this band that blue plaque, give them keys to the city, give them anything that they want, just make sure that they come back. Belle and Sebastian are Cult Heroes and National Treasures.
Main photo: Gavin McNamara
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