UK Tour 2018

Huge editors fan here and after observing this forum from afar since around 2015, I felt compelled to write my first post after witnessing the band last night in Bristol. While this was not my first editors experience (Southampton TWOYL tour and Bristol ID tour), it was the best - for various reasons.

We all know the difference of editors mk I and editors mk II, the former being an epic post-punk juggernaut settling for nothing other than dark and towering elegies, the latter showing off a different side which offers more in the way of introspective writing married with more experimental approaches to arrangement and production (I am, of course, excluding the calculated new order inspired jump to ITLAOTE - which was possibly the reason behind the line-up shuffle and “editors mk I & II”).
I will openly admit, whilst I love all editors albums, I did feel that editors mk II were inferior, simply because of Chris’ guitar work elevating the songs of TBR and AEHAS. However, after last night, this has changed.

With TWOYL, ID, and Violence containing some truly breathtaking moments, last night cemented their place in the editors oeuvre as equal in quality with songs from the first two albums. This is the best I have seen the band perform (caveat - I haven’t seen “mk I”), each member complementing each other perfectly, from Justin’s drumstick guitar playing, Ed’s drums assaulting the senses with precision timing, Russell’s melodic bass lines, Elliot adding the finishing touches and some great lead vocals on “Darkness” and, of course, Tom leading from the front with his theatrics and movement, frankly cutting a quite Messianic figure at times.

Having listened repeatedly to Violence since its arrival, I was keen to see how the electronic aspect would work live as the album felt a bit jarring, with most “digital” aspects of sound appearing at the end of songs. Although this was enjoyable it felt a bit “tagged on” and under-thought for editors. Let me tell you: it made total sense last night.

The sheer brutality of the electronics was evident last night, bruising the senses when coupled with the lighting and taking the songs to the next level when you needed that extra kick to ramp things up even further when within the context of live performance. It needs to be said that when these sounds are matched with such incredible songwriting (Magazine, Violence, Nothingness), you realise that, as a band, these guys are masters.
A special mention goes to the segue between Violence and No Harm, which went from bludgeoning electronica into haunting synthesised minimalism with such care and dedication it seemed effortless, and then returned to skycraping heights with equal amounts of delicacy and drama, Tom using his voice as an instrument to decorate the expanse of the aforementioned with something so human and tangible.

It amazes me that I’ve got this far without mentioning Tom too much. In terms of entertaining, mesemerising and watchable frontmen, he must be one of the best out there. He seems to be thoroughly in the moment onstage which breeds a performance from him that seems so natural and human, to-ing and fro-ing with the emotion of the song and the energy of the crowd and band. After the unfair “poor man’s Ian Curtis” tag throughout their early years as a band, he has gone on to truly own his stage presence - not once did he seem trite or appear to be acting, just in a transcendental state and “feeling it” as the best musicians do. The whole gig certainly rubbed off on me as I left the venue feeling like I’d robbed the band for only paying £30 for the ticket!

Not only that, it made me realise that bands can survive losing such pivotal members and still be as good as before through the strength of songcraft and amazing live performance.

Anyone got any spare tickets for Birmingham?! : D

Joe

Joe, i dont have a spare ticket for Birmingham but i do have a spare ticket for Leeds and Manchester.

Birmingham is a MUST! We have seen them 3 times in Birmingham, and I don't know if it's because it's their hometown but the crowds are always 10 times more energetic than elsewhere. We saw them in Birmingham on the In Dream tour, to then watch them in Leeds on the following night. The Leeds gig felt like a Depeche Mode gig, entertaining on the stage but the crowd was absolutely awful, unless you enjoy just standing there gawping in silence.

Anyway check twickets, they only resell tickets at face value or less. My dad and brother are going to Nottingham tonight with tickets they bought from there for just £18!

Really interesting you should say that about Birmingham crowds. I agree that there has always been a good atmosphere at Editors gigs there but generally I’ve always found Birmingham crowds very reserved (certainly compared to the likes of Manchester and Glasgow). I go to a lot of smaller gigs in Brum and so often the crowds are very respectful but so quiet. I’m not sure if the reaction they get puts certain bands returning to the city as our gig scene is poor for what is supposed to be England’s second city.

Joe you seem to have the bug. I have had it for nearly 13 years now..... where does time go?!

Well my first Editors experience was in June 2012 when they played the two gigs at HMV Institute in Birmingham, and the crowd was absolutely wild. I was dripping with sweat and remember nearly falling over with the swaying multiple times. It the same during the In Dream tour at the O2, but then as I said Leeds, not so much.



I wonder if Editors crowds are becoming more subdued because of their new audiences (not necessarily target audience) nowadays. I think they attracted a huge young, indie, student type following during their early days who are understandably more energetic and 'up for it', but their new music certainly does attract a new older following who I imagine were around during Depeche Mode's early days, New Order fans, Numan, etc etc, and maybe they've lost a lot of their early fans because of their new direction. A friend of mine saw them during their AEHAS tour in Doncaster and used to love them, but now refuses to come with us to any new Editors gigs.



It was definitely a much older crowd than last time at the Birmingham City Hall gig in March of this year. I can't imagine their new music is attracting those same teenagers/ young adults that they did with The Back Room or AEHAS...