ANDY BELL – RESIDENT, BRIGHTON 3.3.25
I’m starting to think Andy Bell must be one of the hardest working chaps in the music business, he just does not stop! When he is not making music and touring with ‘RIDE’, he might be playing and recording with his most recent band ‘Mantra of the Cosmos’, but it’s more likely he’ll be putting out more of his unique and most excellent solo work, be it under the GLOK or Space Station monikers, tonight though he is going under his own name ‘Andy Bell’, who is not be be confused with the gentleman of the same name who fronts Erasure, simple as that.
With these events at Resident you never know what you might get, sometimes it could be a 4 or 5 song set, other days, you might get a whole hour of music followed by the customary signing, meet and greet, but tonight we are getting the whole kit and caboodle, a 40 minute, 12 song set taking in not just songs from Andy’s latest album ‘Pinball Wanderer’, but plenty from his earlier albums and a couple of RIDE songs to boot and all for the measly £11.99 price for the CD, bargain of the year surely!
Andy is no stranger to Resident, not only did he play here with RIDE back in 2019, he also played here to support his previous album ‘Flicker’ back in February 2022. And in terms of Brighton visits we cannot forget his gig at the Green Door Store in October 2023, which was my first ever write up for Brighton & Hove News – Review HERE.
Tonight Andy was looking very relaxed as he headed to the front of the mini stage dressed in a bright baggy Aries sweatshirt and Adidas trainers. I had read that he can be quite nervous of these smaller shows, but I don’t believe it. Think of the size of the crowds he has faced during his time as part of Oasis, the 100 or so lucky ones here this evening will be no sweat.
“Good evening Resident, are you ready to shoegaze” Andy joked as he picked up his acoustic guitar devoid of his usual effects pedal set up. Claps, cheers and laughter ensued. Andy was straight into it with 3 in a row, ‘The Commune’ followed by ‘I’m In Love with… A German Film Star’ and ‘Madder Lake Deep’. I’m in Love..’ is actually a cover of a song by The Passions and features on the new album ‘Pinball Wanderer’. To hear it stripped back like this was a beautiful thing, especially compared to the various remixes that have been put out. There was not a peep from the incredibly respectful crowd throughout; you could have heard a pin drop.
Following a strong applause Andy mentioned “When I see the in-stores here at Resident on the socials, I see people crowd surfing, but it’s not that kind of vibe today. This is a very quiet version of my music, but you know, I hope it’s alright for you guys” he added “My times here before were louder and different, but this time it’s very stripped back”. Some shouted that “the staff could crowd surf”, Andy replied “go for it”.
Next came two songs from the album ‘The View From Halfway Down’. First was ‘Cherry Cola’ quite a haunting one, more vocal heavy compared to the other songs so far and the awesome ‘Love Comes In Waves’, I really loved this one, a beautiful song, so mellow, one thing that it really enforced was just how well Andy sings, in my mind, I’ve always had him solidly guitar focused, but this evening has corrected that perception for me.
Andy quizzed the audience if we were getting too much pop from his microphone, he had brought a pop filter for the microphone with him, but if he put it on no-one would be able to see his face. And to be honest, I don’t think he could have moved any further back due to the tiny space on the stage. Someone in the crowd at this point asked Andy about the key he was playing in and it was different, Andy replied for some reason on the records they are too high for him, but he will always rework them to what works, the lower the easier. With that we had an early song from his solo work, ‘Plastic Bag’, this one in studio format has all sorts of filters and noises going on, so it was an interesting take with just the acoustic guitar.
Following a sip of water, someone in the crowd shouted for the lights to be turned down as they were too full on and it would give more atmosphere. Andy said he was fine with that if that’s what we wanted and the shop staff can take a look when they get a message but he start playing ‘Lifeline’ during which the message was received and the lights went off “Oh that’s better, I’m having that” said Andy, I think it was a wise request, it really helped the atmosphere to match the music, I’m sure it would alleviate any nerves when you can see the whites of the crowds eyes less than a metre in front of you. After restarting ‘Lifeline’, we were treated to a solid succession of songs with no break. A RIDE song ‘Home Is A Feeling’, one from the ‘Flicker’ album ‘Something Like Love’ and finally ‘Skywalker’ from ‘The View From Halfway Down’ album. Each song was as good as the last one, you just wanted to close your eyes and be carried away, so beautiful and relaxing.
A huge round of applause came whilst Andy took another swig of his water, “If you have heard my new record, you’ll probably realise there are not many songs that fit the acoustic treatment, but I do have one more from it to come next” he then thanked everyone for coming and for all the feedback and comments and hope we enjoy the new album, he said he “Really enjoyed making it” and with that were treated to ‘The Notes You Never Hear’. But that wasn’t the end of things, as Andy followed that directly into a song from Ride’s most recent album ‘Yesterday Is Just A Song’. What a fine closure to proceedings.
I must admit I wasn’t sure how an acoustic set was going to play out considering most of Andy’s solo work has plenty of electronics and effects, but the performance tonight blew me away. I think I can speak for the whole audience, nothing but respect and admiration for Andy who is 100% an incredibly humble person, a true musician through and through. I’ve since now played the album on my stereo and Andy was true to his word, there is not much you can do acoustically from it, so it was a fine experience to hear things tonight in such a wonderful strip backed way. Perhaps that could be a future album format for him, but don’t forget I said he must be the hardest working man out there, I suspect his summer and onwards will be tied up busy with a certain famous Manchester band, so in the meantime go check out his new album, some signed copies are still available at Resident, if not plenty of his solo work is on Bandcamp.
Andy Bell setlist:
‘The Commune’ (from 2021 ‘See My Friends’ EP)
‘I’m in Love With… A German Film Star’ (The Passions cover) (from 2025 ‘Pinball Wander’ album)
‘Madder Lake Deep’ (from 2025 ‘Pinball Wander’ album)
‘Cherry Cola’ (from 2020 ‘The View From Halfway Down’ album)
‘Love Comes In Waves’ (from 2020 ‘The View From Halfway Down’ album)
‘Plastic Bag’ (from 2021 ‘See My Friends’ EP)
‘Lifeline’ (from 2022 ‘Flicker’ album)
‘Home Is A Feeling’ (Ride song from 2017 ’Weather Diaries’ album)
‘Something Like Love’ (from 2022 ‘Flicker’ album)
‘Skywalker’ (from 2020 ‘The View From Halfway Down’ album)
‘The Notes You Never Hear’ (from the 2025 ‘Pinball Wander’ album)
‘Yesterday Is Just A Song’ (Ride song from 2024 ‘Interplay’ album)
