The O2 Enviornment, London – Reside Assessment

Elbow
The O2 Enviornment, London
ninth Might 2024

Elbow’s return to The O2 Enviornment is an all-out singalong celebration, with moments of melancholy, open-hearted intimacy, and a couple of music “about devastating romantic regrets”.

Elbow exhibits are all about singing and clapping alongside to hovering (generally melancholy, generally joyous, at all times shifting) songs and appreciating Man Garvey’s (generally self-deprecating, generally earnest, at all times entertaining) MC patter. There’s typically a mirrorball. The finale’s normally a life-affirming One Day Like This. However, most of all, Elbow exhibits are about communion.

On their final UK tour (one of many first after the world shut down for a bit), the band, their singer, and their songs gently guided us again from months of isolation. Enjoying smaller venues and debuting tracks from the wistful Flying Dream 1, they created a secure house for reconnection and shared emotional outpouring. Pleasure, tears, elation.

Now they’re again in arenas, armed with their most swaggering LP in years, in a world that feels barely much less darkish (at the very least in comparison with these complicated post-pandemic days of September 2021). Even the solar’s come out. So tonight at The O2 Enviornment is, deliberately, extra of an all-out celebration (with moments of intimacy and a couple of music “about devastating romantic regrets”).

The brand new tracks greater than rise to the event. ’70s lounge lizard crooner Issues I’ve Been Telling Myself For Years opens the present (because it does Audio Vertigo) with confidence and poise, full with Mark Potter’s sleazy guitar solo and luxurious harmonies from the six ladies who complement the band on vocals, strings, and horns. They shine once more on the playful Lovers’ Leap; its skittish horn line completely enhances Pete Turner’s funk bass groove and Garvey’s tongue-in-cheek story of starcrossed younger lovers that performs out towards the backdrop of Elbow’s title in lights, à la Elvis’ 1968 comeback particular.

Later, The Image bounds, throbs, and pulses jubilantly, contrasting lyrics that doc the tip of a relationship when its final remnant, an previous picture of the couple someplace on the web, is “misplaced to the tides of the binary ocean”. Balu, turbocharged by Craig Potter’s glistening ’80s synths, Alex Reeves’ polyrhythmic drumming, and completely bombastic brass, is Elbow at their most effusive, whereas the rapid Good Blood Mexico Metropolis is Elbow at their most pressing. “When the solar goes down, the evening explodes of their eyes/ That is the surge of the great blood rising,” Garvey belts over a monster guitar riff and positively sunny backing vocals.

Solely a rowdy Grounds For Divorce comes shut by way of urgency, however the stay staple from The Seldom Seen Child is clearly greeted with much more quantity, partly instigated by the singer. Not for the primary (or final) time, he leads the world by way of a name and response that continues into the music and solely provides to its impression. My Unhappy Captains is one other. Launched with an particularly eloquent description of reconnecting with useless mates by way of goals, its audience-chanted chorus of “Oh my soul” is much more unifying and inclusive than any of the massive gestures created from the stage. There might have been tears, once more.

An imposing Lippy Youngsters repeats the expertise (with fewer damp eyes) as some 15,000 voices take part on the “construct a rocket boys!” line — and a few even attempt to take part on the whistling bit on the finish. If this appears like Garvey’s leaving the heavy lifting to the viewers, he’s undoubtedly not. Other than chatting concerning the origins of songs, taking the piss out of his age and transfer to London, and appearing as a cheerleader and conductor (“I’m drunk with energy,” he laughs throughout an prolonged viewers participation session), he completely provides his all whereas singing.

In actual fact, your entire prolonged band are in high quality kind. Exhibiting whole restraint on Puncture Restore, they stomp throughout the second half of Station Method, waltz by way of Kindling, get soiled and nasty on the gritty and glitchy Dexter & Sinister, add much more polish to the elegant Mirrorball, and gently gently push The Birds additional (and, sure, greater) than ever earlier than: Garvey particularly sounds phenomenal through the last motion.

“Please sing alongside,” he asks later, by means of introducing Magnificent (She Says), earlier than including: “At all times sing alongside.” Sound recommendation for an Elbow gig — and life.

Yow will discover Elbow on their web site in addition to Fb, Instagram, and X.

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Phrases by Nils van der Linden. You may go to his writer profile for Louder Than Struggle right here. He tweets as @nilsvdlinden and his web site is right here.

Photographs by Simon Reed. His web site Musical Photos is right here and you may go to his writer profile for Louder Than Struggle right here. He tweets as @musicalpix.