NEW MODEL ARMY
LONDON ELECTRIC – 16/12/11
Last year New Model Army brought the snow for their anniversary shows and almost repeated it today. This end of year institution is always a great if not cold finale to a year of concerts and today it saw the gathered clans change to yet another venue, the newly restored Electric, formerly The Fridge in Brixton. This was the first time I had been to the venue since the new management took over, although it was for a while a regular haunt in 2007 for shows. The first thing that was noted was just how friendly security were now and that the beer was not a rip off and sold on draft rather than in bottles at extortionate prices. Then I noticed that the smell of paint was still lingering in the air and it was obvious the rest and new management had made a nice difference to the place. It was still very empty and considering this place is a bit smaller than the Forum I wondered if the move south of the river had paid off. I should not have been concerned though as by the time the headliners arrived the place was rammed.
First up though was the support. Originally I had seen it listed that Dinosaur Pile Up were playing and a quick listen had me seriously nonplussed. However this had changed to Max Raptor and the songs on line went down much better prior to the show. From the off they were loud, bouncy, brash and gobby with a confidence exuding off the stage and rocking riffs blowing out the speakers. They struck as straddling genres to me with the brashness of punk and the accessibility and guitar style of Britrock. The crowd watched and moved forward a bit to get a closer look but New Model Army audiences are generally only there for one thing and it would have taken a hell of a lot for a virtually unknown band to win them over. The chugging bass and guitars and the jubilant cry of “this is England” rallied us and there was plenty of spirit about it and new song introduced as ‘Call To Arms.’ I thought that Max Raptor were a good choice of support and they had the appeal to win over a crowd like this as easily as if they were supporting the likes of someone such as Blur. With catchy lyrics and powerful and memorable songs such as ‘The King Is Dead,’ Max Raptor showed a lot of promise and certainly warmed us up before the main event.
The roadies were obviously cold wearing balaclavas to set the stage up and an air of anticipation filled the venue as the now very large crowd waited for NMA to come on. At nine o’clock the band appeared to tumultuous applause and quickly set about things fast and furiously with ‘Whirlwind’ literally tearing out the speakers. New Model Army have always sparked a huge amount of passion and do so in two ways with either dynamic, fully charged, rafter shaking anthems and more gentle inward looking poetic songs that border on heartfelt ballads. With the former delivered in style it was time for the latter and the contrast of ‘High’ flipped the coin and got everyone chanting along. Pausing for breath in the photo pit I got the chance to take things in a bit more. Justin was stage centre and flanked by Marshall to our stage left and Nelson to his right. Dean White was behind him on keyboards with a big bell on them waiting to be clanged and making everyone aware that a certain newer song would be included and keeping time at the back was drummer Michael Dean. There was not a huge amount of movement on the stage but the crowd made up for that, occasionally however the ever flamboyant Marshall intruded into Justin’s patch and the pair jousted with their guitars like warriors of old.
Justin occasionally threw a quick bit of stage banter back at the crowd. Early on in proceedings, possibly due to an audience shout he wryly said “come on The Astoria was a fleapit, give this place a few years” and went onto mention playing there when it was The Fridge and The Ace, which was even before my time and that’s saying something. With 30 years of history behind the band and 11 studio albums it was going to be impossible to play everything that everyone wanted to hear but the band did a good job of keeping us all happy. The old guard got ‘No Greater Love’ and ‘Christian Militia’ both of which were incredibly stirring and evocative, the hit seekers got ‘Vagabonds’ and we even got some rarities in the form of ‘Rumour And Rapture’ and See You In Hell’ a couple of songs that I honestly am not sure if I have ever caught live before.
I moved upstairs to watch the crammed mayhem below and probably had more room than anyone else in the venue to sip a pint and get into things. Below the crowd literally seethed, a tribal miasma of bald heads, bare chests and tattoos (insert and that was just the girls joke)! Human pyramids were not as high as in the past our bones are perhaps too brittle now and having toppled down from one in more youthful times it is certainly something I would never attempt again. ‘The Attack’ was one of the highlights of the set for me and took me right back in time being one of the first songs I heard by the band and before it ‘Today Is A good day’ illustrated that although they have come so far they are still as good and as relevant as they were back then. Autumn is definitely a firm favourite from the last album and has me wondering when and how they are going to follow that up, hopefully soon. ‘Here Comes The War’ literally exploded and caused a huge mash up down below in reaction to the solid chugging bass riffs and then ‘Purity’ swirled in with grace, elegance and lashings more passion.
Long gone are the days that encores were requested by the sound of clogs being stomped into a venue floor but the crowd vocalised in just as loud a fashion and there was no denying a return to the stage, besides the set list had been changed somewhat and ‘No Rest’ was still to be played. So that’s it for 2011 and as far as shows are concerned I have had more than enough of live bands this year. Perhaps it is a good idea that New Model Army are the last one that I generally see at the end though as they always deliver and make me realise that it’s worth a break and recharge of the batteries for the next year. One thing’s for sure New Model Army never let us down and highlight why going to gigs is so important, even if there are none better than them doing it!
Review & Photos © Pete Woods
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