Two and a half years on, arguably the best Britpop band of the era are back in Notts again. This time touring the 25th anniversary of their third album, Coming Up, Suede seemingly haven’t aged a day, putting on one of the best live performances Molly Hancock seen in years.
In one of the best live venues in the UK, everybody knows to turn to the left on entry in to Rock City and have a glance at whatever merch the band has on sale. However, seeing this 90s band selling two condoms for four quid was certainly not expected, but definitely set the tone for the upcoming gig; Brett Anderson hasn’t lost his energy in 30+ years of performing.
''The band got to showcase their cohesion and energy - something they’ve clearly worked on perfecting over the years''
With the backlights dropping, the band walked on to a massive eruption of cheers from the crowd. and an instrumental version of She blasting overhead. Cue Trash, one of the most iconic songs of the 90s; there was no hope for anyone's voice lasting until the end of this gig. Here, the band got to showcase their cohesion and energy - something they’ve clearly worked on perfecting over the years. And what better way to show off their raw talent than with one of their most popular songs.
Next, once the crowd had calmed down somewhat from that entrance, we got to see the likes of Mat Osman on bass, Simon Gilbert on drums, Richard Oakes on guitar and Neil Codling on keyboards - all members that were with Suede when they released Coming Up - showing off their own musical genius A personal favourite of mine (and seemingly everyone else who had heard even a small amount of their discography), Beautiful Ones, was met with an insane reaction from the crowd. Anderson was running about the stage, trying to interact with everyone, even those stood right at the back. Swinging his microphone by its cable in his trademark move, he stood on top of amps, cementing the band's rock-star persona and proving that Suede’s musical prowess and ability to entertain is as strong now as it must have been in their heyday.
The next three songs, Starcrazy, Picnic by the Motorway and The Chemistry Between Us, were all met with a similar excited reaction, but the star of Coming Up really lay in their rendition of Saturday Night. Being the last song they performed from the album, the lighting was perfect. Stage lights shone on the disco ball, illuminating the crowd with dazzling lights and giving the band a moment of closeness with their fans.
Though done with Coming Up, the gig certainly wasn’t over as the rest of the band took a couple of minutes break whilst Anderson kicked off the second half with an acoustic version of Europe Is Our Playground, showing off his distinctive vocals to those who could hear over the sounds of everybody getting the drinks in!
Following Coming Up's tracklist, the band played a set of songs from their newer albums since their reformation in 2003. Most notably was Outsiders, a stand out song from their 2016 album Night Thoughts and perhaps even one of the best songs of the entire gig.
''There are still great things to come from one of the best bands of the 90s''
Finishing off, Suede definitely knew how to please the crowd with We Are the Pigs, So Young, Metal Mickey and Animal Nitrate - definitive Suede classics.
Even though the gig was for the 25th anniversary of Coming Up, Suede managed to put in a good few songs from their newest album The Blue Hour, even making the encore Life Is Golden, ensuring that this did not simply come off as just a 'best of' band, but one that is still producing great music that is still being performed beautifully.
In the words of Brett Anderson at the end of this iconic gig, ”Don’t grow up. I don’t intend to” - this is perhaps a signifier that there are still great things to come from one of the best bands of the 90s.
Written by: Molly Hancock
Edited by: Amrit Virdi
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