Thursday 6 December 2018

On Stage: Editors @ TivoliVredenburg

It's been a long time since Editors played small venues. Nowadays they play large arenas and are headlining major festivals. So when they announced a string of shows in small venues I made sure to get tickets. Time to meet the band up close.

Editors at TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, December 3 2018



We sure are close to the stage this time. The sold out main hall of TivoliVredenburg holds around 2000 people tonight and we are only a couple of rows from the front, a few meters away from the stage. Andy Burrows warms up the crowd with a somewhat mellow set, a bit too mellow and on the safe side I think. Only when his buddy Tom Smith himself joins him for one song, the venue gets a bit loud. For the rest everyone is eagerly awaiting the main act.



Bassist Russell Leetch is right in front of us on the stage and I can actually look him in the eyes, which turns out to be great. Now I can see how much he is enjoying playing. Like the rest of the band he is definitely having a good time, being able to really connect with people in the crowd. Editors play a greatest hits set with a few songs from their last LP Violence scattered in between.



I still like the songs of the first three albums the most, which is obvious again tonight. The music of the last couple of albums, sounds really inflated and blunt compared to older songs like 'All Sparks', 'Munich' or 'Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors'. Some of the newer songs are aimed at sing-alongs in big arenas. Of course the fans are in for that and many people around me are singing everything word by word.



It is nice though to see this band stripped back to the bare essentials again as they prove what makes them so big in the first place. It is the way they are tightly playing their dark music, concentrated and full of passion. Of course singer Tom Smith adds the icing on the cake with his impressive baritone voice and lively performance. The way he feels the music and presents it is always a delight to watch.



And it is really nice to see it all happening from almost front row. You do notice the band is used to playing huge crowds, since every move they make is big, like their newer music. That makes sense of course since it is not possible to entertain a big crowd with small gestures. This has been a unique night with a unique band, that ends with a happy performance of 'Nothing' together with Andy Burrows.



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Setlist:
01. The Boxer
02. Sugar
03. Hallelujah (So Low)
04. All Sparks
05. An End Has a Start
06. Fingers in the Factories
07. Darkness at the Door
08. Salvation
09. Violence
10. No Harm
11. Bullets
12. A Ton of Love
13. Formaldehyde
14. Nothingness
15. Ocean of Night
16. Blood
17. Papillon
18. Magazine
19. Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors
Encore
20. Cold
21. The Racing Rats
22. Munich
23. Nothing


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