Del Amitri wrapped up their reunion shows in London.
This is the last night of thirteen reunion shows for Del Amitri, with chief songwriters Justin Currie and Iain Harvie back together for the first time in more than a decade. In terms of musical comebacks, Del Amitri’s isn’t on the scale of the much talked about Abba or Oasis shows that could happen in the next year, but they are amongst a clutch of late eighties-nineties Scottish bands that deserve more credit then they get (see also Love & Money, The Silencers and Teenage Fanclub).
Impressively, the newly refurbished Apollo is packed for the final leg of a tour billed as The A to Z Of Us, a title that suggests what the gigs are – a tour de force of the band’s back catalogue. Always The Last To Know and Kiss This Thing Goodbye kick things off – and straight away the seated floor of the Apollo is on its feet. The nineties period is the most plundered for the set-list, with thumping versions of Just Like A Man, Here And Now and Stone Cold Sober; there’s even an appearance of the Currie described ‘throwaway pop song’ Roll To Me, which the singer proudly boasts “bought my house”.
For the loyal following there are also album tracks and b-sides, with the beautiful In The Frame and Sleep Instead of Teardrops featuring alongside encore opener In The Meantime and the scathing drug rocker Being Somebody Else. For those fans that remember Del Amitri’s much forgotten debut album, there is a stunning reworking of Hammering Heart, unrecognizable from its tinny 1985 original.
Stand out moments come later on in the set with the crowd singing along to the delightful Be My Downfall and heart-wrenching Driving With The Brakes On, before the stunning Move Away Jimmy Blue closes the night (with Dallas support act The O’s joining them). A live album will follow this tour, but whether there will be new material is still unclear, but certainly for tonight the band seem to be enjoying being back.
The set list:
Main Set
Always the Last to Know (from Change Everything, 1992)
Kiss This Thing Goodbye (from Waking Hours, 1989)
The Ones That You Love Lead You Nowhere (from Change Everything, 1992)
Just Like a Man (from Change Everything, 1992)
What I Think She Sees (from Some Other Sucker’s Parade, 1997)
Not Where It’s At (from Some Other Sucker’s Parade, 1997)
Sleep Instead of Teardrops (from Lousy With Love: The B-Sides, 1998)
Be My Downfall (from Change Everything, 1992)
Food for Songs (from Twisted, 1995)
Tell Her This (from Twisted, 1995)
In the Frame (from Lousy With Love: The B-Sides, 1998)
Nothing Ever Happens (from Waking Hours, 1989)
Roll to Me (from Twisted, 1995)
Driving With the Brakes On (from Twisted, 1995)
Hammering Heart (from Del Amitri, 1985)
Spit in the Rain (from Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri, 1998)
Stone Cold Sober (from Waking Hours, 1989)
Being Somebody Else (from Twisted, 1995)
Drunk in a Band (from Can You Do Me Good?, 2002)
Encore
In the Meantime (from Lousy With Love: The B-Sides, 1998)
Here and Now (from Twisted, 1995)
Just Before You Leave (from Can You Do Me Good?, 2002)
Move Away Jimmy Blue (from Waking Hours, 1989)
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