After a delay to proceedings thanks to everyone’s favourite virus, Suede’s 25th anniversary (shit, really!?) celebration of defining album ‘Coming Up’ continued at the Manchester Victoria Warehouse - a venue this attendee had never, well, attended before, and was surprised to see how “warehouse-y” it really was.
Special mention must go to support act Nadine Shah, who rocked the place with a set of ballsy, raucous, sax-fuelled numbers that definitely won her a few more fans (more of her later).
Kicking off their first set with the entire run through of ‘Coming Up’, Suede have arguably never sounded better. Now experienced writers and performers with over thirty years under their belts, Brett Anderson bounded on stage with his usual hyperactive energy, defiantly declaring that “we always come back!” as the triumphant strains of hit single ‘Trash’ kicked things off.
It was odd in a way hearing a set so front loaded with indie rock gems instead of them being unveiled toward the end of a set, fan favourites ‘Filmstar’ and ‘Lazy’ completing a pumping opening trilogy. Hearing the album in a live environment, in order, sounds like a greatest hits show in itself is evidence of the longevity of the material, and that quite rightly it should be celebrated.
‘Coming Up’ was by rights Suede’s (first) rebirth, after the departure of guitarist Bernard Butler, and the recruitment of then-teenager Richard Oakes, a move that could have, in an alternative timeline, spelt disaster for the band, not see them produce some of the strongest, catchiest tracks of their career.
As the band launched into ‘Beautiful Ones’, Brett implored us to sing along (and if we didn’t know the words, “what are you doing here!?”). It seems unfair to single out Brett for attention, but he is the epitome of what a rock frontman should be: always on the move, whether leaping from a monitor, lying down to deliver his vocals from a prone position, swirling his microphone around a la Roger Daltrey, or lavishing in the adoration from the faithful; the hair shorter these days but still flicked around with abandon as Mat Osman wrestles with his bass as Oakes, drummer Simon Gilbert and seemingly unflappable keyboardist Neil Codling put in a solid, exhilarating, ever-reliable shift.
In terms of the second half, conducted after a short break following a lovely rendition of album closer ‘Saturday Night’ (which still sounded perfect even on a rainy Wednesday in Lancashire), the group took us on more of a deep dive, including ‘Young Men’ and ‘No Tomorrow’, before bringing back support act Nadine Shah to perform her song ‘Fool’ with the rest of the band. It seems this was the first time this duet had featured on the current tour, so was certainly a special moment.
From there we stomped through “greatest hits” territory, with the punky attitude of ‘Can’t Get Enough’, earlier classics ‘We Are the Pigs’ and ‘So Young’ before the closing salvo of ‘Metal Mickey’ and ‘Animal Nitrate’ - songs that simply refuse to sound dated. A final encore of beautiful and heartfelt ‘Blue Hour’ track ‘Life is Golden’ closed things on a tender yet euphoric note, showing that, in 2021, Suede are still quite the force to be reckoned with, and as up for it as ever.
Words and Pictures by Pete Muscutt
