Who
Suede
Support
Desperate Journalist
Where
Birmingham Symphony Hall
When
21st March 2023
Price
£35.00
Who with
Alex, Rich
Position
Seated, towards the back
Comments
My first show of 2023 was over four months after my last gig, and an unexpected sixth time watching Suede. They'd impressed me with their Coming Up show and my brother fancied joining me without creating too much drama over it, plus it was at the beautiful Birmingham Symphony Hall, so it was a hard one to resist. We booked tickets many months in advance but I only heard through all the Suede albums once, realising just before the show that I'd pretty much forgotten to listen further. We booked for the upper circle slap bang in the middle, which seemed to be an optimal combination between affordability and a great view. It's taken me well over two weeks to write up this review as my phone somehow deleted all my draft notes and that demotivated me from the task. So hopefully I haven't forgotten too much, but I do wonder what information has now been lost? The tickets were posted to me like the good old days, and my Dad was on standby to use the third ticket if necessary, but I'm sure the show would have been far too loud for him. I enjoyed a fairly relaxed work day before driving into Wolves and parking, ahead of catching the onward train. Although the weather was warming up a little at last I still felt that it was big coat weather, and paid a visit to Wolves McDonalds. I resisted the McFlurry but went for the five Chicken Selects meal, and was mildly annoyed by the smelly woman next to me. I spied the new central Wolves KFC nearby plus a heavily-branded Halal King towards the train station impersonating Burger King. Both of which would be good to try in future.

The city was still a mess, with the never ending works to dig up one simple street edging towards the finish and also the tram track gradually being constructed at a snails pace. All that time and they were planning to construct the terminal too far from the train station, so they were still cocking it up! I got the onward train to Brum, playing Solitaire on my phone, strangely choosing to not listen to Suede. Also I was making painstaking review notes on my phone before they were rudely deleted, so that was a waste of time! Upon arrival I resisted a cheeky visit to Brewdog but did pop into a nearby newsagents for a £1 Robinsons drink and £1 Aero Orange bar, taking advantage of the few fixed price products amid the over-priced stuff on offer in there. Unnecessary but cheaper than that potential beer! I then walked to the venue, stopping for a few pictures of the reinstated Golden Boys statue lit up at night. I was frustrated by how light streaks kept appearing on my phone camera and it constantly needed cleaning. But I'm still living with the bizarre situation that my camera rarely beats my phone for picture quality. That situation does change when in the venue though, as the superior zoom of my camera then gives it a change to excel! I walked in through a side entrance with only the briefest of ticket checks, making for a lovely and relaxing atmosphere. It was pleasantly quiet and I love it when venues are casual and friendly rather than subjecting you to prison-style admission searches. I'm still disgusted by Field Day whinging about my camera, and as time goes on I hope I'll gradually wind down visits to those unfriendly places.

I met my brother upstairs and we headed to our seats. It was spookily quiet, and although it filled up as Suede's announced set time approached, I don't think that the show was quite a sell out. The seat to my left remained vacant throughout so was very convenient for coat storage. Doors had supposedly opened at 7.30pm but we were in the arena ten minutes before then, and this balcony was one below that for The Divine Comedy. And it was far better, with the position being noticeably closer and at a better angle. Also being slap bang in the centre and with sufficient elevation that heads couldn't get in our way was a bonus. We did wonder about the loose chairs to the left and right but they felt like disabled/hospitality seats. Maybe one to check out next time? The support band were advertised as starting at 7.55pm and were very punctual, and the fact it was pretty quiet indicated that most fans had made the effort to research the running times, which had been clearly and conveniently advertised by the venue. They were called Desperate Journalist and I deduced this from my camera zooming into their drum kit. They were far too loud and the sound quality was poor, which was frustrating as I'd been praising the acoustics of the venue. It felt that the effort to get the mix right just wasn't invested as they were a mere support act? The Suede backdrop of the Autofiction artwork was dark but on display, but without illumination it looked a little like Richard III doing a face palm! Desperate Journalist were a pretty typical support band, being inoffensive but of very little interest. They consisted of three girls and two guys and were backed by blue lights, which eventually changed to red. But the poor sound quality worked against them, and given I struggled to get into support bands at the height of my love for new music, now I'm ageing and barely getting into anyone new, the odds of a support act blowing me away are getting less and less each year.

After Desperate Journalist finished, the stage was rapidly cleared for Suede, and to my surprise a standing crowd gathered in front of it. Judging by how the show unfolded I wonder if Suede actively encouraged it, but the security certainly made no effort to get them to move. It did mean that everyone downstairs needed to stand for a decent view, but that didn't affect us. The relaxing vibe was good though, and the lights went down and Suede appeared shortly after the advertised 9pm time. First to appear was Richard, now sporting facial hair and given a spotlight for an opening guitar solo. And this was where my failure to explore the new material of Suede worked against me, as they opened the show with three tunes from their latest album! This reminds me that I need to record a new Suede best of, ideally one part pre split and the second half of post reformation material. It will take me a little research to pull off the second half of that compilation but much like the process of putting together a Euros Childs greatest hits, I think that endeavour will greatly deepen my appreciation of the newer material. It's tough to fathom but Suede have now been together longer since their regrouping in 2010 than they'd lasted in their original incarnation! Richard was originally recruited as a 17 year old guitar prodigy but he's now 46 years old, albeit still exuding the energy of youth. The rest of the band appeared, with Brett ambling onstage last as I'd expect. The Autofiction backdrop was now lit up and there were changing lights but no video backdrop, which is always a bit low fi nowadays, but I think that the venue was just about small enough to get away with it. I shot a short video during this first tune Turn Off Your Brain And Yell, even turning off the preview screen so I could discretely film in the dark. Although the venue just weren't being Nazis, and the fans were freely enjoying the show, making for a very positive atmosphere in any case!

Next up were Personality Disorder and 15 Again, neither of which I knew. However I had faith that Suede just weren't the types to fob us off with b-sides, and that trust in them allowed me to be patient through the barrage of newbies, and I was rewarded with an electric run through of debut single The Drowners! I shot another video of that spectacular intro and Brett made his way past the speakers and into the crowd at the front, which was unexpected, delightful and made me suspect that the standing fans at the front were there at the request of the band to give the show more atmosphere. Brett even briefly clambered up to the lowest balcony, but always exuding an air of caution as he gingerly stepped through the small gap in front of the speakers. He wanted to hype us up, but was sufficiently controlled to ensure he wouldn't accidentally injure himself! Much as before, Brett looked slim, energised and healthy, sporting a loose fitting black top and white/grey trousers. Matt Osman in particular seemed lively and motivated, and certainly the band were on form. Somehow the singing remained immaculate even when Brett left the stage, and my zoomed camera footage made it clear that the crowd up front were chuffed to be singing alongside their hero! The upward trajectory continued with Animal Nitrate, as I shot another video featuring green and blue lights. Brett was prowling the stage for the intro then mounting the speakers to encourage crowd participation. My video came into glorious focus in the end, and my innate confidence that Suede would deliver the hits was paying dividends.

This ludicrous streak continued with Trash, as someone told Brett that they love him, and he questioned the wisdom of heckling a man with a microphone! Strangely he persisted in saying Birmingham the American way, perhaps drawing their distinction from Britpop. I'd been watching an excellent Channel 5 documentary on Britpop and it was fascinating how Suede accidentally kicked off the movement before keeping the torch burning in 1996 thanks to Coming Up. They were always their own band and quite separate to everyone else, but what a movement it was, despite the ridiculous assertion that 1997 saw its death, whereas in fact music hit its greatest ever heights then! I shot a video for Trash as Brett got the crowd to sing the chorus amid blue lights. It was a relentless run of hits, which after a mysterious intro then continued with the glorious We Are The Pigs! I shot a video for this and Brett was on his knees and it wasn't really going anywhere, but it did succeed in making the proper intro of Pigs all the more powerful. This run of classics was strangely interrupted with Black Ice, which apparently was from the new album too. It was a strange move, as Autofiction was represented by seven songs tonight and all the other post reformation albums were overlooked entirely. This mirrored how the Coming Up tour in 2021 had featured three tunes from Bloodsports and ignored their other new material. Most unusual, although I do need to commit and learn this material for sure! Saturday Night was introduced as one that hadn't been played for a while, but when Brett debated whether it was Tuesday night I predicted correctly what was coming. It's a lovely tune and I will always consider it to be the ideal Suede set closer. I shot another video of the intro, capturing few lights as Brett again headed to the left and past the speakers, slipping back into the crowd by the time he hit the chorus. Glorious, whether it's Saturday night or not!

The band left the stage, excepting Brett and Neil, who accompanied the vocals with piano-style keyboards. I was amazed and thrilled when they launched into The Power, which made for a rare Suede classic I'd never heard before. I shot another video and this was a delightful low key moment. The band then rejoined them for three tunes from Autofiction, including obvious lead single She Still Leads Me On. It's sad that singles don't really exist anymore thanks to streaming, as music fans nowadays don't seem to understand that they were worth buying for the b-sides. The idiotic change to stop 4 track singles around the turn of the Millennium was the first nail in the coffin, and the forced obsolescence of CDs is a sad thing. It's unusual in that the inferior vinyl format has now overtaken CDs, but the deluxe reissue market still means that CDs haven't died a death yet. For me a download has no intrinsic value whatsoever but I also feel frustrated by the space that my CDs take up, especially as I just burn them all to my PC. Perhaps the strangest aspect is how Apple stopped making the only iPod large enough to hold all of my music, but streaming is just a nonsense for me. I'm happy enough to watch YouTube, but think the physical product of a CD (or a pretty but useless vinyl) backed up onto a PC is the obvious option that everyone should be enjoying right now. Next up was the wonderful (and ideal set opener) Can't Get Enough, as I shot another video amid blue lights and Brett jumping around. It had been a long 24 years since Suede's stunning headline show at V99 and it was gratifying to see that they still had the same line-up, and Brett if anything was more energetic and healthy than he was back then!

The band then left Brett alone and I expected The Living Dead, but was equally pleased by The Wild Ones! I shot a video of Brett questioning why we come to concerts rather than staying at home and listening to the CD player. He said CD player jokingly and was interrupted by some fool screaming for The Asphalt World. Thank fuck Suede weren't delving up the arse of Dog Man Star tonight! Instead they delivered all four singles from their debut and all four singles (if counting The Power as the unreleased fourth one) from Dog Man Star. So this provided the best of their early material and was much more enjoyable than a 15 minute wank through The Asphalt World! But anyway, I was delighted to hear The Wild Ones despite a grating out of tune voice near me that my video also captured singing along like Ian Brown on an off day. Brett correctly said that we come to shows for the shared experience and encouraged us to sing along. Lovely! As well as representing the Bernard Butler era well, Coming Up was also treated kindly thanks to a performance of the lovely Lazy! My video captured pinky blue lights and I've always loved this song, but Brett calmed down a bit to reflect its slightly less manic pace. We were now in the home straight though, as I captured an enthusiastic Brett and bright orange lights for So Young! The hits then reached another peak with Metal Mickey, and if Brett is tired of performing the hits he sure doesn't show it! My video captured him continuing to prowl the stage, and performing on his knees at some points. New Generation confused me a little and I may have suspected that they were offering a cover version of Love Spreads, however the band encouraged hand clapping and it was great to recognise New Generation once they got into it. The lights were quite minimalist, making hard work for my video to stay in focus before it eventually settled on Brett in high quality. And that was it, Suede left the stage and the main set was finished!

It was pretty obvious which tune was still to come, and my faith in Suede to deliver the hits was absolute. They didn't mess about either, really milking Beautiful Ones as their greatest ever hit. The slow intro was amazing as Brett got us all clapping and doing the "la la la" bits, and my video captured Neil joining in on guitar. It was genuinely thrilling when they burst into the proper intro amid red lights, although my video of Brett hyping us up and standing amid the speakers again didn't come into good focus until the very end. What a finish! We made our way out and my brothers friend had known a few of the hits - including Beautiful Ones - and had enjoyed the show despite relative ignorance of the material. My brother went to Snow Hill and I enjoyed a cheeky NEIPA at Brewdog while waiting for my train. It was a bit of a wait and made the return journey via Walsall, but given the bus replacement services also scheduled it looks like the track wasn't fully open. My ears were whistling and I felt quite sweaty considering it had been a sophisticated venue. I'd taken a near-record number of photos, but this was justified as it was hard to get good shots with high zoom on the band, and only a few turned out remotely well. I then made it back to my car and got home around midnight. Suede had done well but their decision to only represent their newer material with so many cuts from Autofiction was strange. Also a few numbers such as My Insatiable One, Killing Of A Flashboy, By The Sea and Filmstar would have gone down nicely. Personally I don't like Stay Together, but I understand that many fans would have killed to have heard it! But Suede are so impressive and crowd-pleasing that I'm nit picking really. For me they are still and hopefully always in fashion!
Setlist
Turn Off Your Brain And Yell
Personality Disorder
15 Again
The Drowners
Animal Nitrate
Trash
We Are The Pigs
Black Ice
Saturday Night
The Power
The Only Way I Can Love You
She Still Leads Me On
Shadow Self
Can't Get Enough
The Wild Ones
Lazy
So Young
Metal Mickey
New Generation
Beautiful Ones

Mark: 8.0/10