Rapidly approaching the end of an extensive UK tour to promote new album, ‘Life, Death and Dennis Hopper’, The Waterboys brought their superb mix of rock n roll, blues, folk and 60’s psychedelia to Leeds Academy. Kicking off with a full on rocking ‘Be My Enemy’ the first six songs of the evening are a dream for any early Waterboys fans, every song from that time when the band exploded into everyone’s minds. Mike Scott pounds round the stage, feet kicking the air at every opportunity as they power through ‘Medicine Bow’ and ‘Glastonbury Song’. Things calm a little for the lush ‘How Long Will I Love You’, a sublime ‘When Ye Go Away’ and the always, always superb, emotional hammer that is ‘This Is The Sea’, lifted even higher by the superb keyboard sounds courtesy of James Hallawell. But The Waterboys have a new album to promote. A concept album dedicated to the life and times of actor, filmmaker, visual artist and photographer Dennis Hopper. An album completely different from anything you’d expect The Waterboys to produce. Arty, poppy, swooning, psychedelic. It all appears. And it works. Scott explains they’re not going to play the whole album, just enough so we can understand Hopper and his life. Album opener ‘Kansas’ is played out as a film projection of the song’s guest vocalist Steve Earle. ‘Live In The Moment, Baby’ is full on boogie rock n roll packed full of glorious hammond organ from Brother Paul Brown. In all we’re treated to twelve of the album’s tracks and it works brilliantly. Short song introductions by Scott, projected backgrounds. The swooning ‘Andy (A Guy Like You)’ and ‘Blues For Terry Southern’, the dreamy, 60’s pop vibes of ‘The Tourist’, the trippy ‘Transcendental Peruvian Blues’. ‘I Don’t Know How I Made It’ is heartwrenching, a noticeable hush descending on the venue as those present lose themselves in their own personal thoughts. It’s a big risk for a band to drop such a big, continuous chunk of new songs into a set. After all it’s possible, likely even, that a significant number of punters will have payed their money expecting a greatest hits show. Not so here tonight. These are fans that seem to hang on every lyric, every note played regardless of whether that song was released just a couple of months ago or 40 years ago. Fans that have taken the time to get to know ‘Life, Death and Dennis Hopper’ and really appreciate it’s nuances.
But it’s fair to say the atmosphere steps up a notch when The Waterboys return to those big crowd favourites. ‘Don’t Bang The Drum’, ‘She Tried To Hold Me’, ‘Spirit’ and ‘The Pan Within’ see the venue singing along in unison, couples dancing or just holding each other, smiles everywhere. After well over 90 minutes the band leave the stage to rapturous applause but of course no Waterboys gig is complete without The Whole Of The Moon and when they return it’s as superb now, in 2025, as it was forty years ago. Barny Fletcher, who throughout the evening has added his falsetto tones to numerous songs, takes the spotlight for his own number ‘Wasted Sunset’ before the utterly sublime ‘Fisherman’s Blues’ brings a perfect end to a fantastic two hour set.
Words/photos – steve white
Click any image to open slide show.
