What really needs to be said as an introduction to Elbow? The unsung heroes of British rock, for twenty years now and five albums they’ve been producing unique, beautiful music. The Palace Theatre is sold out tonight, and the enthusiastic audience are packed into every vantage point around the three levels of the venue, eagerly anticipating the chance to see Elbow live. With their album Build a Rocket Boys! coming out ealier in the year to critical acclaim there’s sure to be at least a few songs off of it in the set tonight.
As the deep blue lighting on the stage dips, two violinists set up and begin a subtle introduction to ‘Birds’, the first track off of Build a Rocket Boys! The band come out to a cascade of applause, singer Guy Garvey flanked by guitarist Mark Potter and bass player Pete Turner, keyboardist Craig Potter and drummer Richard Jupp taking places on risers either side of the stage. ‘Birds’ is a bit of a slow start, the sound in the venue doesn’t quite seem loud enough, but with the second song ‘Mirrorbal’l the volume issue appears to be sorted out, Garvey’s soaring vocals filling the Palace, the audience lost deep in the subtle melodies and craftmanship of the band. Mark Potter is playing a beautiful resonator six string, adding a distinctive twang to the guitar sound.
Garvey’s easy northern accent lends itself to banter between the songs, coming out with a dark joke about the people he’d seen exercising in the park that day, opining that in Manchester, the people in parks usually aren’t moving. The lights change to a menacing red, a heavy bass and drum intro leads into ‘Neat Little Rows’, the refrain “lay my bones in cobblestones” punctuated by the thick bass riff shows off a darker side of the band in an otherwise cheerful atmosphere.
Getting the audience involved isn’t a problem tonight, as after Garvey asks “Do you fancy a sing, then?” to a thunderous reply, he takes the crowd through a few vocal warm ups, cheekily throwing in “da-hum-I-had-cheese-toastie-this-morning” before starting ‘Open Arms’, the audience primed for the soaring choral harmonies in the song. Later, most of the band leave the stage “to go do rock star stuff” for a quieter number with Garvey singing with Craig Potter playing keyboard, followed by another intimate, pared back song with the band around the keyboard riser, giving the air of a casual jam or rehearsal, mates hanging about playing music together. Twenty years together has only seemed to bring the band closer.
After the song, Garvey mentions this milestone, to cheers from the crowd, who start singing Happy Birthday to You. The band are clearly moved by the gesture, Garvey mumbling a humble “thank you, very much”. He’s pushing his voice on the next song ‘Weather to Fly’, commenting that it’s not every time he can manage to pull off the ethereal vocal intro to the song. His easy manner and carefree performance have built up an intimate atmosphere, and as the band finish he’s down with the crowd, shaking hands as if with old friends.
It’s 10:45 and Elbow’s set is advertised to go until 11:30, so it’s clear an encore will happen. The crowd are cheering and applauding as Garvey, Mark Potter and Pete Turner come back on brandishing trumpets, letting loose the opening blast to ‘Starlings’, off their 2008 smash hit The Seldom Seen Kid. ‘Starlings’ is a perfect example of Garvey’s often quixotic poetry, as in the line “yes I guess I’m asking you/ to back a horse that’s good for glue/ and nothing else!”.
As the show finishes Elbow clearly deserve their reputation as a unique and powerful live band, and yet remain surprisingly grounded and humble. Guy Garvey is clearly the centre focus, but without any of the ego or tension in the band that can happen with a singular frontman. They act and feel like a group of mates from Manchester, who are out playing beautiful music and enjoying doing it, and from the perspective of the audience this can only be a positive thing, and makes for a special experience, and as they filter out into Bourke St smiling contentedly in the wintry breeze, they’re probably quietly thinking about going to the second show as well.
– Shaun Thatcher
