• About
    • Ethics policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Ownership, funding and corrections
    • Complaints procedure
    • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Newsletter
Brighton and Hove News
16 July, 2025
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Opinion
    • Community
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Food and Drink
  • Sport
    • Brighton and Hove Albion
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Opinion
    • Community
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Food and Drink
  • Sport
    • Brighton and Hove Albion
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
Brighton and Hove News
No Result
View All Result
Home Arts and Culture

The Divine Comedy Brighton concert report

by Nick Linazasoro
Friday 18 Oct, 2019 at 4:18PM
A A
3
The Divine Comedy Brighton concert report
The Divine Comedy live at Brighton Dome 16.10.19 (pic Sara-Louise Bowrey) (click on pic to enlarge!)

THE DIVINE COMEDY + MAN & THE ECHO – BRIGHTON DOME 16.10.19

Oh how I was looking forward to this almost-sold-out night at the Brighton Dome.

It’s been a good few years since I last sat The Divine Comedy, and my memories were of a joyous romp through a slew of quirky pop classics that will surely stand the test of time.

Added to this, on a purely intellectual level, the new long-player – ‘Office Politics‘ – is a quality product with songs that bear close examination and hold together as intended in concept album form.

Man & The Echo live at Brighton Dome 16.10.19 (pics Sara-Louise Bowrey) (click on pics to enlarge!)

And having taken a little time to research support act Man & The Echo I was equally interested in exploring the live persona of another band with that ability to translate observational comedy into great songs.

Indeed, Warrington’s Man & The Echo did deliver a nicely packaged warm-up offering.

The four-piece’s lyrical style is perhaps summed up by the artful line that opens ‘A Capable Man’ … “I have successfully challenged parking fines with my persuasive rhetoric…”

And much like The Divine Comedy, their sparse musical production simply provides a foundation stone on which the edifice of crafty elocution teeters like a precariously grandiose mansion on the hill.

They have a headline tour of smaller venues coming up (in Brighton it’s the Green Door Store) and I’d recommend giving them an evening of your time. Purchase your tickets HERE.

But here’s where things somehow hit a slump.

The Divine Comedy live at Brighton Dome 16.10.19 (pics Sara-Louise Bowrey) (click on pics to enlarge!)

Maybe it was just me – after all, music is a very subjective beast – but I just got the sense from the crowd reaction (or lack of it) that tonight Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy), had somehow lost the magnetism needed to pull a band together into a coherent stage set.

There was a feeling of watching a group of session musicians going through the motions. Concentration on hitting the notes and holding the beat felt like the dominant force – with performance taking a back seat.

The applause between songs was polite rather than rapturous. The buzz in the room was more chatter between people in the audience whose attention had drifted rather than electrical crackle.

With a long journey home ahead, despite all the best intentions of staying to the end, we departed at around the half-way mark.

Perhaps the band found its footing in the home run… certainly looking back on the set list there were a good few obvious crowd-pleasers in there that should have hit them mark.

But sadly for us, for tonight, the comedy was not quite as divine as it might have been.

The Divine Comedy setlist:
‘Europop’
‘Queuejumper’
‘Generation Sex’
‘Commuter Love’
‘Office Politics’
‘Norman And Norma’
‘Come Home Billy Bird’
‘The Synthesiser Service Centre Super Summer Sale’
‘Infernal Machines’
‘You’ll Never Work in This Town Again’
‘I’m A Stranger Here’
‘A Lady Of A Certain Age’
‘At The Indie Disco’
‘I Like’
‘National Express’
‘The Life And Soul Of The Party’
‘A Feather In Your Cap’
‘Absent Friends’
‘When The Working Day Is Done’
(encore)
‘Something For The Weekend’
‘Philip And Steve’s Furniture Removal Company’
‘Songs Of Love’
‘Tonight We Fly’

Further details on The Divine Comedy can be found on their website: thedivinecomedy.com

Tour flyer

Visit and ‘LIKE’ our ‘What’s On – from Brighton and Hove News’ Facebook page HERE.

ShareTweetShareSendSendShare

Comments 3

  1. Kerrie Morrison says:
    6 years ago

    You only watched half the show! Not sure that’s really fair or puts you in a position to write a review.

    Reply
  2. Ros Brown says:
    6 years ago

    Think you must have been at the wrong venue! I thought they were fabulous and the crowd were rapturous. I think you have got this review seriously wrong.

    Reply
  3. Andrew Boag says:
    6 years ago

    I agree with Ros Brown, I loved it. The final acoustic song to the Father Ted theme (written by Neil Hannon) was an unexpected highlight for me. The venue was packed until the final encore so I’d say the reviewer was very much in a minority leaving early.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Most read

Plans for £6.9m swimming pool go before council cabinet

Sinkhole appears outside financially troubled Brighton school

How Brighton’s most useful shop keeps helping customers even though it’s closed

The Divine Comedy Brighton concert report

Power cut affects thousands of homes and businesses in Brighton

Lifeboat picks up ill-equipped paddleboarders heading for windfarm at dusk

Water company brings in hosepipe ban after dry spring and heatwaves

Boy, 15, seriously injured in sword attack

Burger bar waits to hear if it can trade until 3am

Carpenter used old employer’s uniform to fraudlently buy goods on account

Newsletter

Arts and Culture

  • All
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Food and Drink
An evening of goth sounds with The March Violets

An evening of goth sounds with The March Violets

15 July 2025
Love Supreme Festival 2025 : Day Three with Maxwell and friends

Love Supreme Festival 2025 : Day Three with Maxwell and friends

14 July 2025
Jessica Winter has ‘Got Something Good’ going on

Jessica Winter has ‘Got Something Good’ going on

13 July 2025
Palindrones headline a night of darkwave sounds in Brighton

Palindrones headline a night of darkwave sounds in Brighton

13 July 2025
Load More

Sport

  • All
  • Brighton and Hove Albion
  • Cricket
Plans for £6.9m swimming pool go before council cabinet

Plans for £6.9m swimming pool go before council cabinet

by Sarah Booker-Lewis - local democracy reporter
15 July 2025
31

Plans for a new public swimming pool are due to go before Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet on Thursday...

Sussex Sharks open T20 Blast with a win

Hampshire Hawks thwart Sussex Sharks in Blast

by Alex Smith - ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
13 July 2025
0

Hampshire Hawks 171-4 (17.2 overs) Sussex Sharks 167-7 (20 overs) Hampshire Hawks win by six wickets James Vince hit the...

We have an awful lot of work to do, says Sussex coach

Sussex must up their game in T20, says disappointed Farbrace

by Alex Smith - ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
11 July 2025
1

Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace said: “It is a hugely disappointing night. We haven’t been consistent in the last three...

Sussex Sharks open T20 Blast with a win

Sussex Sharks flounder against Essex in T20 at Chelmsford

by Alex Smith - ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
11 July 2025
0

Essex 148-4 (16.1 overs) Sussex Sharks 145 (18.2 overs) Sussex Sharks lost to Essex by six wickets Michael Pepper’s pyrotechnical...

Load More
October 2019
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Sep   Nov »

RSS From Sussex News

  • Suspected fare dodger attacks ticket inspector on train 15 July 2025
  • Man dies in three-car crash 13 July 2025
  • Boy, 15, injured in sword attack 13 July 2025
  • Water company brings in hosepipe ban after dry spring 11 July 2025
  • Police officer spared prison after being caught with child porn 11 July 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy
  • Complaints
  • Ownership, funding and corrections
  • Ethics
  • T&C

© 2023 Brighton and Hove News

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Opinion
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
  • Sport
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Contact

© 2023 Brighton and Hove News