SLOWDIVE + WHITELANDS – BRIGHTON DOME 16.2.24
Shoegaze legends Slowdive opened their sold-out UK tour with a gig at the Brighton Dome on Friday. Accompanied by London-based four piece Whitelands, Slowdive played a set primarily composed of material from their new release ‘Everything Is Alive’ and their 2017 self-titled comeback album, plus a few classics from 1993’s landmark album ‘Souvlaki’.
Whitelands are a representative of the 2010’s shoegaze revival, having released their first album in 2018. Their presence as opening act reflects how shoegaze has had a large upswing in popularity within younger generations in the last few years: while the genres’ qualities made it a bad fit for radio at the time of its development in the early 90s, younger generations are most likely to be exposed to it via sings such as Cocteau Twins’ ‘Heaven Or Las Vegas’ or Slowdive’s own ‘When the Sun Hits’ going viral on platforms such as TikTok, and then in turn having streaming services like Spotify to discover the large body of work from the last 30 years within the genre at their own pace, despite most of it flying under the radar upon original release.
This was exemplified in the bands’ performance of their most recent single ‘Tell Me About It’, a song mixing driving drums and bass with falsetto vocals. The song combines shoegaze reverberating guitars with pop hooks and groovy drums influenced by early 90s “baggy” acts, displaying how younger acts have the benefit of immediate access to large amounts of past music and so are able to mix and match influences that in their own time would’ve been seen as more insular due to the overarching tribalism of music scenes at the time. The bands’ music is driven by vocalist/lead guitarist Etienne’s melodic vocals and leads, self-described as “soulgaze”, married to an ethereally danceable backbeat on songs such as recent single ‘Setting Sun’, and their strong performance hopefully bodes well for their upcoming second album.
Whitelands:
Etienne Quartey-Papafio – vocals, rhythm guitar
Michael Adelaja – lead guitar
Vanessa Govinden – bass
Jagun Meseorisa – drums
Whitelands setlist:
‘How It Feels’ (from 2024 ‘Night-Bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day’ album)
‘Born In Understanding’ (from 2024 ‘Night-Bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day’ album)
‘Setting Sun’ (from 2024 ‘Night-Bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day’ album)
‘Cheer’ (from 2024 ‘Night-Bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day’ album)
‘The Prophet And I’ (from 2024 ‘Night-Bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day’ album)
‘Tell Me About It’ (from 2024 ‘Night-Bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day’ album)
‘Now Here’s The Weather’ (from 2024 ‘Night-Bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day’ album)
Slowdive opened with the new song ‘Shanty’, a number featuring waves of guitar noise and a keyboard counter-melody that builds on their work with Brian Eno on ‘Souvlaki’ to create an atmospheric yet lively groove, showing how the bands’ unexpected second wind reflected the development of the genre over their 20 years of absence. This was followed by the energetic ‘Star Roving’ from their 2017 album, introduced with a false start and vocalist Rachel Goswell’s leviticus bantering about being dry-throated which “women of a certain age” could relate to, and the first half of the set continued with alternating songs from their newest effort and the 2017 release.
The main set concluded with a trio of numbers from ‘Souvlaki’: the ethereal classic ‘Alison’, plus belated hit ‘When The Sun Hits’ and ‘40 Days’, each of which managed to recapture the ambiences of the original recordings in a busier live environment. The crowd were especially appreciative hearing these classics live, and the band stopped before returning with an encore featuring streaming hit ‘Sugar For The Pill’ and Syd Barrett cover ‘Golden Hair’. Barrett has long been a reference point to iconoclasts from the Jesus and Mary Chain to the Mystery Jets, and Slowdive’s cover was a remarkable re-working bringing the plangent chords and melody of the original into a shoegaze format before using that as a launchpad for a rousing freakout with tribal drums and effervescent guitars while the backing projection showed morphing versions of Barretts’ visage. This reflected how Slowdive, a band 25 years removed from Barrett in their heyday, have embodied the undercurrent in British music of insightfully depressive soft rock and its changing nature. Overall, Slowdive played a brilliant set with plenty for both original fans and new converts to like, with a smartly picked setlist and great live sound that the audience responded to welcomingly.
Slowdive:
Neil Halstead – vocals, guitar, keyboards (1989–1995, 2014–present)
Rachel Goswell – vocals, guitar, keyboards, tambourine (1989–1995, 2014–present)
Nick Chaplin – bass (1989–1995, 2014–present)
Christian Savill – guitar (1989–1995, 2014–present)
Simon Scott – drums (1991–1994, 2014–present); guitar, electronics (2014–present)
Slowdive setlist:
Intro tape: ‘Deep Blue Day’ (Brian Eno tune)
‘Shanty’ (from 2023 ‘Everything Is Alive’ album)
‘Star Roving’ (from 2017 ‘Star Roving’ single & 2017 ‘Slowdive’ album)
‘Catch The Breeze’ (from 1991 ‘Catch the Breeze’/’Shine’ debut single & 1991 ‘Holding Your Breath’ EP & 1991 ‘Just For A Day’ debut album)
‘Skin In The Game’ (from 2023 ‘Everything Is Alive’ album)
‘Crazy For You’ (from 1995 ‘Pygmalion’ album)
‘Souvlaki Space Station’ (from 1993 ‘Outside Your Room’ EP & 1993 ‘Souvlaki’ album)
‘Chained To A Cloud’ (from 2023 ‘Everything Is Alive’ album)
‘Slomo’ (from 2017 ‘Slowdive’ album)
‘Kisses’ (from 2023 ‘Everything Is Alive’ album)
‘Alison’ (from 1993 ‘Outside Your Room’ EP & 1993 ‘Souvlaki’ album)
‘When The Sun Hits’ (from 1993 ‘Souvlaki’ album)
‘40 Days’ (from 1993 ‘Souvlaki’ album)
(encore)
‘Sugar For The Pill’ (from 2017 ‘Sugar For The Pill’ single & 2017 ‘Slowdive’ album)
‘Dagger’ (from 1993 ‘Souvlaki’ album)
‘Golden Hair’ (from 1991 ‘Holding Your Breath’ EP) (Syd Barrett cover)
Outro tape: ‘An Ending (Ascent)’ (Brian Eno tune)
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