— Adam Matthews contributed with this article
March 6th marked the beginning of the ‘Editors’ March 2010 UK Tour, and the band have hit the ground running.
Before witnessing Editors tear it up, the audience were treated to the beats of New York electro-pop quartet ‘Cold Cave’. Although they didn’t seem to engage much with the crowd, they did have the most hardcore footstomps a band could ever do in unison.
Setting aside the fact they seemed a bit stiff on stage and disconnected from the audience, their steady beat and catchy melodies were more than enough to get the crowd’s heads bobbing and feet tapping. The most memorable part of their performance had to be when their keyboardist Jennifer Clavin took to the mic for one song, “Life Magazine”. It was one of the more upbeat tracks along with “The Laurels of Erotomania” that had some catchy melodies, and were sure to stay in the audience’s minds.
The support left the stage after a warm reception, before the crowed geared themselves up for what they had been waiting for – Editors.
As the crowd roared, the British indie rockers hit the stage and the band exploded into “In This Light and On This Evening”, working the stage to its full potential. The performance as a whole was extremely energetic, even fierce – with frontman Tom Smith’s ‘claw-like’ hand gestures he made regularly. The electric vibe that oozed from the band charged up the crowd. There didn’t seem to be a single moment during the two-way exchange between audience and performers when there wasn’t hand waving, people jumping around or even moshing. At a point, the crowd were so pumped, they couldn’t avoid taking an elbow to the face if they were anywhere within 15ft of the barrier.
The set could have been a bit more mixed up instead of playing a few numbers from the same album on the bounce, and then switching to another. Perhaps it could have been a little shorter, but then again fans definitely got their £20 worth with 17 songs on the set list, and if that wasn’t enough four more followed in the encore. There were even a few surprises that were tucked away during the night such as “Life as a Ghost” and new song “Last Day” midway through the show, with “No Sound but the Wind” appearing in the encore.
Performance-wise, the show was tight and well executed, the vocals were top dollar and pretty much studio-perfect. Editors hit the stage and they conquered it, closing the show with “Fingers in the Factories”. Tom even managed to unintentionally catch a rogue shoe that got launched towards the stage.
Make sure you pick up a copy of The Linc, out March 9th, for an interview with Tom Smith from the Editors.