GIG NUMBER FORTY-THREE
Who
So Suede were next up and opened things slowly with Simon. Just Brett and the two guitarists were onstage and it was hardly the best way to get the crowd going but Suede had a plan. Things picked up a bit for Positivity which really isn't that bad although it certainly is a bad choice for first single off an album. The song went down surprisingly well though, and Brett was determined to try and drum up support for it. Suede at this point unveiled their masterplan: they were going to build things up until people went insane! Things moved up another gear for Everything Will Flow, which sounded good. Suede then turned it up to eleven for Trash, sparking an impressive moshpit that, for once, I joined properly. How can they follow Trash? Playing Metal Mickey was the only way to actually increase the excitement! It certainly was a peak so things were (relatively) slowed down for Filmstar. Brett introduced it by spelling out the letters of the title over the intro. The moshpit continued!
Things calmed down as they played two new songs that might had been Lost In TV and Streetlife (the latter of which I think was a quiet number). Brett asked us to cheer the new album but this almost felt desperate, like acknowledging that the crowd didn't like it. The new songs seemed OK but didn't sink in at the time much. There's still no forgiving She's In Fashion though: a song that just seems very poor to me. There was lots of clapping and an extended ending, but it all felt a bit like a novelty number and I still just don't like it. Next up was newbie Beautiful Loser (I think), which went down surprisingly well. The set then probably reached its high point with a total shock. They played So Young! It took me a while to recognise it but I immediately could tell it was something special and moshed like crazy. I never expected MORE old songs than before!! Excitement was kept at fever pitch with Animal Nitrate, which sounded typically amazing, and this terrific trio was topped off with (should-be opener) Can't Get Enough. The main set was then finished with Obsessions which seemed fairly good.
Brett then came back on by himself and performed an impressive medley including Indian Strings, The Living Dead and some new material. The band then returned for Astro Girl before climaxing with the two songs you'd like them to finish with: The Wild Ones and Beautiful Ones!! The first was very nice and we got to practice the falsetto first (as explained to us, the bit of your voice that makes you sound like a girl). Beautiful Ones was technically a perfect closer and provided yet another moshpit but things didn't seem right without Saturday Night. So Suede surpassed all my initial expectations with an excellent show. The setlist truly was outstanding, although perhaps dropping Simon and She's In Fashion for New Generation and Saturday Night would had improved things a little but it was so close to perfection I can't complain! It wasn't as good as their unbelievable V99 performance and the moshing did indeed cripple me afterwards for several days but I can only say nice things here.
Mark: 8.0/10
Suede
Support
Gemma Hayes
Simple Kid
Where
Manchester Academy
When
3rd November 2002
Price
£15.00
Who with
No-one
Position
In the moshpit
Comments
Everyone seemed to turn against Suede when A New Morning and Positivity were released. Indeed, I bought this ticket many months before the album failed spectacularly. By the time of the gig I simply wasn't excited about it, I hadn't heard any Suede for months and I knew nothing from the A New Morning except Positivity. So, to try and generate a little excitement beforehand I put on a few of their singles and, to my amazement, the material just blew me away and suddenly I was thrilled by the prospect of seeing them! So now I went out in the correct frame of mind and got comfortably close to the front. Simple Kid opened the show with an adequate effort. He started off by himself with just a guitar and a mouth organ attached to his neck then his band came on after a bit. I guess I felt pretty indifferent to it all and never thought much either way. Things picked up for Gemma Hayes who was surprisingly loud. It was fairly likeable stuff and enough to keep my attention.
Setlist
Simon
Positivity
Everything Will Flow
Trash
Metal Mickey
Filmstar
Lost In TV (?)
Streetlife (?)
She's In Fashion
Beautiful Loser (?)
So Young
Animal Nitrate
Can't Get Enough
Obsessions
(a medley)
Astro Girl
The Wild Ones
Beautiful Ones
n.b. I'm fairly sure about most of this, although not the order the new songs were played in or which (new) songs were done
