NEW MODEL ARMY – 30TH ANNIVERSARY SHOWS
LONDON FORUM 3-4/12/10
There must be something in the air as far as Anniversary shows are concerned, the 1st night of these two dates saw Cathedral reaching the grand old age of 20 and Laibach are also just turning 30 too. One thing these bands may not have predicted was that the weather was going to be completely unforgiving with massive transport meltdowns around lashings of snow, ice, fog and subzero temperatures. Thankfully this did not prevent New Model Army making the venue, our minds were put at rest on this thanks to messages on their website, it also did not stop the shows being packed with just a few tickets left. It did see one casualty on the first night unfortunately, as support Ed Alleyne Johnson was unable to make it. Rumours circulated that he was hopefully making it along Saturday and the band had changed their set list slightly and it was fiddle free so that suggested this could well happen.
These were very special shows and the reason why the band had, on this 30 year tour, being staging two nights at cities was due to the fact that they were going to play two sets each night, the first acoustic and the second the full on experience. Both nights are getting completely different set-lists and they would comprise of at least 4 songs from each of the 13 studio albums. New Model Army fans are fanatics and most would have gone both nights for the same set but this was a really nice touch. The band had also arranged with the venue to cut its capacity allowing people to choose if they wanted to be downstairs or to sit more comfortably up the top and move around accordingly.
At around 8.15 on the Friday Justin Sullivan came on stage by himself and started with a lone rendition of ‘Better Than Them’ immediately captivating an audience who through time had no doubt taken the lyrics to heart and used them as a means of getting though the ills of the world. Needless to say this brought the house down straight away. Joining him on stage next was Dean White for ‘Turn Away’ the mood was perfect and the audience impeccably respectful for the quieter moments of this set. However ‘Higher Wall’ seemed to be the turning point and this one spurred people into action as human pyramids started to spring up on the dance-floor. With the rest of the band now on stage this short set did get slightly boisterous musically at times (acoustic does not necessarily mean quiet) other highlights were the incredibly poetic ‘Drummy B’ and ‘Attack’ an old one that no doubt took many of us back in time.
After a break it was time for the first 100 minute sets and the gloriously anthemic ‘Over The Wire’ gave every one the chance to let their hair down (although many had lost it some time ago looking around, ahem myself included once more). We were all singing along with Justin and Marshall Gill and Nelson were no longer as restrained and threw themselves into shapes as they fired out the riffs, Dean White was now providing the keyboard parts. Being in the photo pit I had snapped the set list so there were no big surprises, however not having a camera pass for the second night I can get those then. Things were incredibly vitriolic with ‘Vengeance’ as passionate as ever and ‘Whitelight’ a full on and volatile storm of a song. Having loved hearing ‘Attack’ earlier I was really pleased for another ‘No Rest’ classic and ‘Drag It Down’ was a number that was a real highlight for me. The sound was good but at the side of the stage I have to admit the few things Justin said between songs did come out a bit muffled.
A lot happens over 30 years and although the band are as strong as ever there are ghosts from the past, the main one being drummer Robert Heaton who sadly died in 2004. I was wondering if any ex members still with us might pop up for a song or so but it would seem not. Still the old ones are never forgotten and the breathtaking ‘Liberal Education’ was another one that had bare chested, travellers of old up again on each others shoulders adding to the dramatic atmosphere of the number. Obvious songs followed ‘51st State,’ the ultimate protest song with the dub reggae guitar licks making it a bit different from the norm. There were also less obvious ones such as ‘Orange Tree Roads’ songs that have grown since the turn of the century (I still look on them as new). I was right when I said on hearing ‘Mambo Queen of the Sandstone City’ for the first time that it was going to be a full tilt boogie song live and I could only look on at the carnage on the dancefloor with a certain amount of jealousy having a camera to look after. The hits kept coming; the unmistakable keyboard intro of ‘White Coats’ and then ‘Green And Grey’ were watched from the perspective of the upstairs balcony, the throng below looking like they were having the time of their lives. Unlisted encore included ‘Poison Street’ and ‘Betcha’ another couple of classics and we filtered out again into the freezing night happy as we could be, knowing we were going to be doing all this again tomorrow.
So déjà vu but thankfully a lot warmer with it. I was led to believe that Joolz was doing a support set but apparently not and it was another long wait until Justin and Dean took the stage for a passionate rendition of ‘Heroes.’ Whereas last night led into some quite rousing numbers this set seemed as though it was geared more towards the acoustic side of things with ‘The Ballad Of Bodmin Pill’ sending shivers down the spine at the heartfelt lyrics as they proclaimed “sitting in a chair crying what am I going do with my life.” Yes indeed we are all lost and freaks but wouldn’t have it any other way! Another ultimate protest song ‘Another Imperial Day’ was fantastically versed or even ranted by Justin with no musical accompaniment but with everyone in the audience yelling along and stomping feet to it. The song was finished with a flourish of harmonica before the rest of the band appeared for the gorgeously evocative ‘Love Songs.’ With Marshall’s weeping guitar lines paving the way we knew instantly it was ‘Space’ next but the biggest cheer of the night came for Joolz who came on for a literal 30 second blink and you would have missed it lyrical accompaniment. Finishing off with the harmonious earth song ‘Ocean Rising’ we were all very pleased and wondered what was coming next for the main set.
Well I was determined to get some pit action and found myself covered in beer as the band started off with ‘Island.’ The old songs are ones to judge things by though and ‘Christian Militia’ was just what was needed to get the bruises rising. Having said that this was one of those pits that was incredibly good natured with everyone looking after each other and one with plenty of ladies giving out the punishment as well as the men. It was all good fun as people formed their own circles but I knew the days of lasting the whole duration of the set were long behind me and limped out as ‘One Of The Chosen’ dished out its anti-religious doctrine. There were a few more evident metal-heads in the crowd tonight as this show was not clashing with anything and fair play as the greatest song Sepultura ever did was yelled out in its original form ‘The Hunt’ remains truly feral and antagonistic to this day just as ‘Vengeance’ did last night.
I may have misheard but I am sure ‘Red Earth’ was announced as a touchy feely song about Africa! Was this their Toto number? Maybe Justin went on exotic holidays at some point explaining this and ‘Marrakesh’ in the encore but I simply failed to engage with these numbers when the likes of ‘Get Me Out’ were being played. I am going to admit something shocking here but I never really liked ‘Vagabonds’ it is the pop, chart song that everyone seems to love and it was here we realised that Ed had again not made it to add his frantic fiddling to proceedings, luckily Marshall was on fire for this one. I had taken to the balcony for a while and watched ‘Purity’ from above but was itching to get into the melee again. As they ploughed into ‘No Rest’ I was lucky to take the wise decision and go to it via the stairs rather than over the top. Luckily there was a bit of a respite for the encore and although wiped out a couple of firm favourites ‘252’ and ‘I Love The World’ were included to conclude two fantastic nights.
These two shows were being filmed for posterity but the tour had seen one of the best live bands in the world (and with the amount I have seen I would hope to know what I was talking about) wrapping up 30 years in 28 dates. You would really be hard pushed to name a song that you were disappointed in not being included in these two nights, although being an annoying bastard I am going to say ‘Whirlwind’ and the band seemed more than happy still playing the old numbers. Justin was obviously pleased acknowledging that “some people had gone to extraordinary lengths to be here, others just came from London.” This was very true even if TFL did not make it the easiest of journeys. I am sure that the real fanatics attended all 28 dates too but that is the passion that this band commands. Here’s hoping they have plenty more years left in them still!
Pete Woods
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