Review: The Levellers and guests, Lloyds Amphitheatre – ‘Everyone is welcome in Levellers-land’

Don’t you just love it when something does exactly what was promised?

Saturday’s Bristol Sounds gig was billed as “A Beautiful Day Out” and that is precisely what we got. It was a one-day off-shoot of the Levellers’ annual gathering of the tribes.

Local hero, and perennial support act for the Levellers, Gaz Brookfield was the perfect opening act. Strum-y and heartfelt, funny and clever, he ticked every single crowd-pleasing box.  There was the song about cider, the one about Brean Down, the one about loving the west country.

Everything present and correct with the perfect ratio of serious to silly. Undoubtedly Brookfield owes more than a tiny debt to Frank Turner but there’s nothing wrong with that. With songs as smart, as catchy, as sing-it-right-back-to-you as these ones he was a great start to a Beautiful Day.

As the heat slowly went out of the day and the sun began to sink below the buildings, Peat & Diesel revved up the second half of the afternoon. Power chords and heavy metal guitar, thumping drums and supercharged accordion gave some Scottish folk a proper kick.

While many of their songs are sung in Gaelic that didn’t seem to diminish the leaping about at the front of the stage. By the time they unfurled a raucous version of Blondie’s Maria the crowd were well and truly on their side, shirts twirling madly above heads.

As much as this Beautiful Day Out was a mini Levellers fest there was a palpable buzz for the Selecter. Bristol has always loved a bit of two tone and, by the end of their hit packed set, there was moon-stomping and drunken versions of the running man all over the place.

Vocalist, Mark Chadwick, was on fine form, thrashing away on his acoustic and cheerleading the masses while sharing the truths – photo: Ania Shrimpton

Pauline Black and “Gaps” Hendrickson the perfect hosts, whip-crack tight party starters, two voices in delightful harmony. Black’s voice, in particular, is still an awesome thing. It’s powerful and commanding, still the rallying cry it’s always been.

It’s pretty hard to go wrong with a set that includes Three Minute Heroes, Missing Words and Train to Skaville – all three are infectious, bouncy and impossible not to sing along to. That insistent ska rhythm chattering out into the evening sky was exactly what was required with a side order of cider.

Then, just as the smiles couldn’t get wider, On the Radio was followed by a thrilling Too Much Pressure/Pressure Drop. If there was a moment that the crowd will take away and treasure from tonight then this double-whammy is, surely, it.

Things are pretty simple when you go and see the Levellers. Capitalism is bad. Good people are treated badly. No one has enough. Apart from the people who have too much. Nature is important but the world is being ruined. Drinking ruins lives.

Fortunately, all of this stuff can be easily cured if you jump and clap and bounce, if you sing every word to every song. Then the land that the Levellers live in will welcome you with open arms. For 90 minutes anyway.

Everyone is welcome in Levellers-land; the very young and the really quite old, little ones with ear defenders, young-ish ones that can’t handle cider and sunshine at the same time, old stagers with frayed tour tee-shirts. By the encore everyone is dancing, hands are in the air, troubles are forgotten.

The skreel of violin and propulsive thud of drums that herald Liberty Song are welcomed as a message from whichever God you happen to believe in. Each and every word bellowed into the night sky, the sentiment- the desire for freedom – taken to heart by everyone.

Vocalist, Mark Chadwick, is on fine form, thrashing away on his acoustic and cheerleading the masses whilst sharing the truths. England My Home sees the band bouncing and twirling, dreadlocks flung around, scissor kicks from the drum riser, punk-ish, folk-y fun; it is, very simply, the Levellers doing the Levellers things and it is wildly entertaining.

There can’t be many festival bands that have so many songs guaranteed to spark complete euphoria. Sell Out, The Road and the Boatman are all taken from their classic second album, Levelling the Land, and each one is a total joy. Each speaks of a simpler life, a life where this – standing with likeminded people, singing and smiling – might solve the problems of the world.

For those that are not fully enmeshed into the cult of the Levellers, there are still two songs that everyone knows. One Way is crashed out, mid set. Delirium ensued. Beautiful Day is saved right until the end, the celebration of what was indeed, A Beautiful Day Out. Naturally, delirium ensued.

Main photo: Ania Shrimpton

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