ECHOBELLY + BLUE VIOLET – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 1.12.24
I can’t quite believe that 30 years have passed since Echobelly released their debut album ‘Everyone’s Got One’ swiftly followed a year later by their sophomore album and most commercially successful release ‘On’, a copy of which I purchased at the time and played on repeat during the peak of the mid-90s Britpop era, a golden period for home produced indie talent.
Echobelly are deft exponents of the sound of that time and can count industry luminaries such as Madonna, R.E.M. and Morrissey as fans. Singer songwriter Sonya Aurora Madan has always been unashamedly outspoken and the lyrics of many of their compositions have personal depth and meaning juxtaposed with an uplifting and expressive vocal delivery. The setlist offered up this evening was selected from across their three decade career, save for a five year hiatus in 2009.
My single previous encounter with Echobelly was a rather wonderful show at the Komedia basement on 29th November 2017 just over seven years ago. Sonya didn’t stop smiling that night and the band really seemed to be enjoying themselves, transmitting that energy to the audience, so I was eager to join the Sunday night crowd at the Concorde 2 to see them return to the city as part of a 16-date UK tour.
Tonight, founding members Sonya (vocals) and Glenn Johansson (who incidentally have hardly aged at all) lined up with their three bandmates who performed duties on guitars and drums, the band striding black-clad onto the stage at 9:30pm
There were highlights from the very start. Opening track ‘I Can’t Imagine The World Without Me’ from their debut album injected an immediate burst of energy and despite Sonya saying she had no-in ear monitor, she was note-perfect. The problem was resolved by the second track, the bouncy ‘We Know Better’ a 2001 B-side which kept the tempo high.
Considering it was Sunday, the mixed-age crowd were up for having fun, particularly a strident group at the front and Sonya jokingly remarked at this point “you lot are a bit noisy for a Sunday night”.
Further energy was injected with sub-three minute delight ‘Car Fiction’ which was given a funky guitar intro and had the audience singing along. To this day, I still can’t understand why this was never released as a single, it ticks every box needed for success, the driving grungy guitars packing a real punch then ending suddenly.
Next up was ‘Iris Art’ off their third album ‘Lustra’ that sounded so much better performed live than on the recording, the trio of guitars really bringing the song alive.
Sonya, despite her diminutive appearance, absolutely commands the stage and has real personality in her performance, explaining to the crowd that Britpop wasn’t just a ‘lad’ culture and there were lots of strong women on the scene, including herself and Sleeper front woman Louise Wener who lives locally and was in the audience tonight, dedicating the song ‘Father, Brother, King, Computer’ to those women.
Next up the excellent ‘Fear Of Flying’ which Sonya called obscure helped dial the tempo down to stripped back acoustic versions of ‘Worms And Angels’ and ‘Insomniac’ punctuating the Sunday night party atmosphere, but still fitting into the set perfectly. The atmosphere was dialled back up for ‘If The Dog’s Don’t Get You, My Sister’s Will’ from the 2017 album ‘Anarchy And Alchemy’.
Two big hitters, the anthemic ‘Great Things’ and ‘King Of The Kerb’ with their familiar guitar riffs saw the crowd singing and bouncing along, still sounding as fresh as the day they hit the charts three decades ago, the latter track featuring as part of a three song encore which saw them throw ‘Giving It All’ into the mix, a pleasant track which Sonya and Glen recorded as part of side project ‘Calm of Zero’.
The final track was the brooding and delectable ‘Dark Therapy’, the familiar opening chords of the song attracting audible whoops from the audience. This is a track that starts slowly builds in layers to an expansive and mesmeric chorus with the guitars taking over in the latter part of the song and the vocal fading, without a doubt my favourite Echobelly track and a fabulous choice to close out what had been a brilliant show.
Echobelly:
Sonya Aurora Madan – vocals
Glenn Johansson – guitar, backing vocals
James Harris – bass
Jonny Brister – drums
Dion Rushe – additional guitar
Echobelly setlist:
‘I Can’t Imagine The World Without Me’ (from 1994 ‘Everyone’s Got One’ album)
‘We Know Better’ (from 1996 ‘Dark Therapy’ EP)
‘I’m Not A Saint’ (from 1997 ‘Lustra’ album)
‘Car Fiction’ (from 1995 ‘On’ album)
‘Iris Art’ (from 1997 ‘Lustra’ album)
‘Father, Ruler, King, Computer’ (from 1994 ‘Everyone’s Got One’ album)
‘Fear Of Flying’ (acoustic) (from 2001 ‘People Are Expensive’ album)
‘Worms And Angels’ (acoustic) (from 1995 ‘On’ album)
‘Insomniac’ (from 1994 ‘Everyone’s Got One’ album)
‘If The Dogs Don’t Get You, My Sisters Will’ (from 2017 ‘Anarchy And Alchemy’ album)
‘Down To Earth’ (from 2001 ‘People Are Expensive’ album)
‘Something Hot In A Cold Country’ (from 1995 ‘On’ album)
‘Great Things’ (from 1995 ‘On’ album)
‘Scream’ (from 1994 ‘Everyone’s Got One’ album)
(encore)
‘King Of The Kerb’ (from 1995 ‘On’ album)
‘Giving It All’ (Calm of Zero track)
‘Dark Therapy’ (from 1995 ‘On’ album)
Support this evening was provided by four-piece Blue Violet fronted by husband-and-wife team Sam Gotley and Sarah McGrigor an alt-indie group who released their debut album ‘Late Night Calls’ in 2022 and whose second album ‘Faux Animaux’ is coming out on 24th January 2025 which also happens to be two of the band-members birthdays! I must say that I rather like the look of their limited edition red and black splatter vinyl edition, check it out HERE.
They delivered an enjoyable and tight half hour performance of alt-pop rock. Opening track ‘Undercover’ had something of a throwback soft-rock feel with a strong vocal duet and immediately grabbed the attention of the audience. Other highlights included current single ‘Fire’, the power-packed ‘Asylum’ but without doubt the pick of the set was the retro-sounding ‘Imagine Me’, a single released earlier this year that could have come straight out of the 80’s, the melodic vocal and accompanying guitar on this track filling the room with good vibes and serving as an excellent introduction to their music.
Blue Violet:
Sam Gotley – guitar, vocals
Sarah McGrigor – vocals
Cheryl Pinero – bass, backing vocals
Martin Newbury – drums
Blue Violet setlist:
‘Undercover’ (from 2022 ‘Late Night Calls’ album)
‘Imagine Me’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Faux Animaux’ album)
‘Sweet Success’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Faux Animaux’ album)
‘Hard Rain’ (from 2022 ‘Late Night Calls’ album)
‘Fire’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Faux Animaux’ album)
‘Human After All’ (a 2024 single)
‘Asylum’ (from 2022 ‘Late Night Calls’ album)
