There’s a reason why I’m drawn to things from the 1990s. I was a teenager in the 1990s and that’s the music I sunk my teeth into. The music you listen to and choose to buy in your formative years you’ll find later on to be the most important music in your life. Chances are it’ll have shaped you into the person you are now and will have provided a whole backbone of influence.
A song will trigger a memory, a happy place or even tap into some grief, perhaps some deep rooted thoughts and emotions. And there’s one album I keep coming back to for this and it’s Jollification. The rest of the back catalogue is utterly brilliant, but that album is the one that has a special place in my heart and is arguably the band’s best known works outside of a football song.
Which is why we piled into a car built in the 1990s (a 1998 Citroën Xsara in case you’re wondering, which you’re not and that’s fine, but you’ll be able to read about that in my other blog soon enough) to travel to Liverpool to see a group that was big in the 90s, my favourite band in the 90 (and still is), in a venue that probably hasn’t seen a lick of paint since the 90s selling beer from the 90s. All good so far, then.
It was 2024, so that means 35 years since Pure was released and that’s what this tour was about, celebrating the last 35 years of this brilliant group. We were treated to a 90 minute set of hit after hit, with a few deviations, starting off with perfect opener Life’s Too Short. A punchy, dancetastic (Hi Mat!) track that works brilliantly live, my night was made before the second song having never seen it performed live. Life’s Too Short has recently become one of my most played Lightning Seeds tunes, and with this band line up performing it, it was a real treat.
From memory, this was the setlist:
Life’s Too Short
Change
Sense
Feeling Lazy
Ready or Not
All I Want
My Best Day
Perfect
Waiting for Today to Happen
Emily Smiles
Whole Wide World
You Showed Me
What If…
Lucky You
Sugar Coated Iceberg
Pure
Three Lions
Encore: Marvellous
Be My Baby
The Life of Riley
Jollification was very well represented in this set, with all four singles being performed plus two album tracks. We got Feeling Lazy and a personal highlight for me was an absolutely storming version of My Best Day, which in recent times, has become one of my favourite tracks from Jollification. Change sounded as good as it ever did with the rhythm section of Jim & Martyn working so well together. I’ve said before that a band is only as good as its drummer and bassist, and they’ve got this bit nailed. It was great to hear Perfect again and Lucky You (including the first guitar solo of the song played by Riley) and Marvellous (first song of the encore) were getting some serious sing-alongs from the crowd.
In the year that Dizzy Heights became available on vinyl for the first time, that album was also well represented with all four singles performed and the best version of Waiting For Today To Happen I’ve seen yet. The drum beat from Sugar Coated Iceberg has changed substantially since I last saw it live in Falmouth Week a couple of years ago. Dizzy Heights era B-side Whole Wide World, originally written and performed by Wreckless Eric saw an outing, and this is pretty much a staple of the Lightning Seeds set list these days. It’s a great version.
You Showed Me has seen quite a few changes since it was first played live in 1996. Including a few lines of other tunes these days, including All You Need Is Love and Imagine, this acts as a bit of a jam session for the band and a place where Ian can demonstrate his chops on the guitar. Also, it was nice to hear the sound effect intro back on Ready Or Not.
A pair of songs each from Cloudcuckooland and Sense were performed – singles from both. Title track Sense has had a bit of a makeover and sounds great, The Life of Riley now closes the whole show rather than performed before the encore and had the biggest sing-along and reaction of the night. All I Want is always good live and was no exception and Pure brought us full circle back to where it all started. Ian has said in recent times that the intro shouldn’t have been on it, that it should have started with the Motown-esque drum roll, but I only have to hear that intro and I’m drawn in. I’m glad you didn’t top and tail it, Ian. Probably my favourite moment of the night was Ian looking out at the crowd during the middle of Pure and taking it in.
Oh, and Three Lions was also played with Ian introducing it as “This is our theme song whether we like it or not”.
Band line-up:
Ian Broudie (vocals & guitars), Riley Broudie (guitars), Martyn Campbell (bass and backing vocals), Adele Emmas (keys, samples, backing vocals) and Jim Sharrock (drums).
It’s a pity not everyone made it to the gig, as it was slap bang in the middle of serious weather warnings in Liverpool (and Cornwall where we drove from on the Friday night) as they missed a fantastic night. Pity it was so bloody cold in the venue, we were still in our cagoules (zipped up) looking like the Stereotypical Mancs from Soccer AM. The real icing on the cake was enjoying this with friends and family. As mentioned, we drove up from Cornwallceistershire, and one of my best friends and his wife and son drove up from Cambridgeshire to be there. It also marked the first time I’ve met my podcast co-host (and editor and everything else) Mat Read in person. I’ve only known him since the 1990s, and it’s taken me until 2024 to actually meet up with him in person, but that sadly was cut short by the staff at the Olympia shooing us out!
Utterly brilliant night. Music, bringing people together. What would we do without it?
Paul Renowden, 7th January 2025.
lightningseedsarchives.co.uk 