On Wednesday 2nd July, Elbow returned to their hometown for a special outdoor event at Castlefield Bowl, following the success of their fourth UK Number One album AUDIO VERTIGO accompanied by a sold-out arena tour.
The cities most iconic open-air venue anticipated a collection of new material and some of the classic well-loved hits. This show is part of a wider tour that includes some unconventional locations such as Royal Palaces, Norman castles and a scenic nature reserve thrown in for good measure. Their headlining festival is scheduled to take place in the North East
Support arrived in the shape of The Slow Readers Club. The apocalyptic sounds of Aaron’s haunting vocals, showcasing tracks from their latest album ‘Out of a Dream’ laid the foundations perfectly for Elbow.
Elbow are ten albums into their career with four number one best sellers which is quite something for a bunch of blokes you’d probably not recognise if they walked past you in the street. This was my first time seeing Elbow despite having all their albums, I’m not entirely sure how I managed to escape them in their 35-year career. At festivals I suppose I always voted for the more ‘lively’ option if it was available. Regrettably.
The ‘AUDIO VERTIGO’ album hit top spot with rave reviews containing some serious ‘seedy gnarly grooves’ (Garvey’s own words). Rocky guitars have seemingly given way to a fresh concoction of sounds from samba’esque style percussion to bubbling synths. Garvey talked about the inspiration behind each song touching on topics from the importance of friendship and love to the chaos of teenage behaviour.
The audience was a mixed bag of young and older with some Elbow virgins like me. Garvey asked who had seen them before and who was seeing them for the first time. He then introduced ‘Station Approach’ and said ‘this is a song about trains’ and as if by magic, Garvey encouraged the crowd to wave at the approaching train over Castlefield leaving the driver with the widest of smiles.
It was expected that Grounds for Divorce and One Day Like This were being saved for the end. Garvey sectioned off the audience members and allocated them parts to sing in harmony for the big finale. I have to say, this gave me goosebumps as the audience rehearsed with Garvey singing with gusto. A towering gentleman in front of me impulsively turned round with excitement and said “ooh this man’s voice is like a warm hug!”. Eerily, this is exactly what I was thinking. Garvey’s vocal is embracing and calming and makes you feel like everything will be ok.
The stunning string intro kicks in for ‘One Day Like This’, The crowd not being able to wait to join in. A song so uplifting about appreciating the simple and small beauties of life that it becomes one the greatest pleasures only live music can bring; this stunning anthem, it’s that moment of complete one-ness that everyone needs to feel from time to time. ‘One day like this a year would definitely see me right’.
Elbow set list
Station Approach
Lovers’ Leap
Adriana Again
Kindling
Switching Off
Her to the Earth
Balu
Good Blood Mexico City
Puncture Repair
The Seldom Seen Kid
Things I’ve Been Telling Myself for Years
The Birds
Lippy Kids
Mirrorball
Magnificent (She Says)
Sober
Grounds for Divorce
Encore:
My Sad Captains
One Day Like This
Words and Photos by Shavorne Wilbraham
