“Bloody hell, 35 years of The Lightning Seeds”. The unassuming yet outstanding Ian Broudie brings his band’s anniversary celebrations to Newcastle.
Walking out with a smile in tinted yellow shades and a blazer arrayed with lightning bolts, Broudie gives his guitar a quick and seamless tune before kicking off the festivities with ‘Life’s Too Short’. This is a lively track from 1999’s Tilt, which broke away from alt-rock in favour of a bold, electronic sound. This live rendition is more stripped down, and the same is done with ‘Change’, but it in fact makes their electronic hit more cohesive with their whole discography. It’s a strong starter: this crowd is energised from the get-go.
Martyn Campbell is on bass and complements Broudie on vocals, and aside from the frontman, he’s one of the longest-running members, having been in the live band since 1994. Also on guitar is Broudie’s son Riley, who has been playing with the band since 2009. Adele Emmas (keyboard and vocals) and Jim Sharrock (drums) complete the current lineup. They aren’t introduced during the set but all do a fantastic job.
A particular highlight is ‘Perfect’. Normally, this one feels like a song you’d listen to in solitary, with headphones in, due to its brooding nature. Broudie’s voice is soft in the studio version and blends with the music. Live, however, “NOW TOMORROW’S HERE TODAY / AND YESTERDAY’S TODAY’S JUST FADE AWAY” has more power, as proved by tonight’s crowd, which alleviates some of the sadness held by the original and replaces it with passion.
See You in the Stars (2022), the band’s most recent album, is given deserving attention with ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Emily Smiles’. Both garnered a positive reception, just as warm as the reaction to older releases, proving The Lightning Seed’s ability to make endearing and wholesome tunes is very much intact.
‘Emily Smiles’ is a sign of Broudie’s emotional vulnerability in later life, and now the song carries more emotional weight. This was the last song he wrote with the late Terry Hall, of The Specials, before his death in December 2022. He passed just months after the release of ‘Emily Smiles’, and Broudie stayed close friends with Hall up until his death. The pair had collaborated on early Lightning Seeds albums Sense, Jollification, Dizzy Heights and Tilt, so his decades-long influence on Broudie’s music is doubtlessly profound.
Soon after comes ‘You Showed Me’, from Dizzy Heights but originally by The Byrds. This is a beautiful part of the show with Broudie’s voice markedly poignant here as he points to the crowd: “and I’m in love with you”. The band pick up the pace towards the end of the track, taking it into a heavy jam, before slowing it down again into smooth, transitioning cover segments of ‘Imagine’, ‘All You Need is Love, and ‘Get Down Tonight’.
Whilst Broudie isn’t huge on crowd interaction, he’s entirely responsive to the crowd. One enthusiastic guy at the front takes the opportunity of quiet during tracks to shout “HERO” at the Liverpool-born frontman. Broudie amusingly responds “I am” before, even more hilariously, admitting “that was all I could think to say”. He also pays a compliment to all of our ‘ba-ba-ba-ing’, remarking “we get different variations every night but that was good” as he regards the surprising rhythm of the Geordie crowd.
It’s even more surprising if you see how much lager some people are ploughing through with their litre jugs, even offering to top up stranger’s pints. That’s the spirit.
“This next one was our first single, our miracle song… oh wait… “. Broudie is informed he’d actually missed out ‘Sugar Coated Iceberg’. He mixed up the setlist earlier too, but this only makes the band more loveable and charismatic. Now into ‘Pure’, their first UK single which put the Seeds on the map in 1989.
It’s surely mind-blowing for fans who were there throughout the ‘90s, just as the founder himself recalls his impressive career. Tonight, they bring together loyal fans who’ve loved them since the beginning and those who have joined along the way. The Lightning Seeds encapsulates Broudie’s raw emotions in such a colourful way, with their ‘90s albums in particular coating them in warmth and fanfare. This is what makes their songs so striking – they’re raw, far from mindless, and often introspective. He’s long been recognised for his talent, having produced for The Coral, Echo and the Bunnymen, and The Zutons.
Whilst showcasing plenty of their own work, the band throws in another couple of strong covers. The first, a Wreckless Eric cover of ‘Whole Wide World’ and the second, a beautiful cover of The Ronettes’ ‘Be My Baby’. The Lightning Seeds recorded this as a B-side in 2006 for BBC’s Children in Need. Before playing, Broudie declared it as one of the greatest songs ever written. His voice is never overly dramatic. He maintains that recognisable calmness throughout and carries a touching rendition of the sweet, love song.
“I think this my epitaph, it’s hope, a wish, and a prayer…” before descending into chants of “FOOTBALL’S COMING HOME” with their 1996 megahit (at least in England) ‘Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home)’. Written by Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, the song is cemented into football culture, potentially making it one of Broudie’s most memorable songs, whether he likes it or not.
It’s a show ending quite unlike any other. How many bands end their show with a track usually reserved for hopeful pleas in football stadiums, pubs and through waves of chanting crowds with pints knocking around their heads?
Non-football fans might argue that ‘Pure’ is Broudie’s epitaph, and Broudie has expressed the same desire, but it’s easy to appreciate the community that comes with their unexpected anthem that has now become synonymous with sports tournaments in the country.
Commencing their Thursday night show in this way is “pure and simple”, and sent us home without too much to contemplate.
This tour follows the release of The Lightning Seeds’ new greatest hits compilation Tomorrow’s Here Today, which is out now. Listening from start to finish allows you to appreciate 35 years of excellence.
Words by Kai Palmer
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