Editors

The first time I heard the Editors I was 15 years old. I was bored stiff from listening to the likes of The Libertines, Nickelback and Audioslave. Then I heard the ever-so exhilarating song “Munich,” which was like a breath of fresh air and I played their debut album “The Back Room” over and over and over. Needless to say I was quite thrilled when I was given the opportunity to see them live in concert for the first time at the one and only Brixton Academy on Wednesday night.

The very lovely lady at the guest list booth hooked us up with not only complimentary tickets to the show but also VIP passes allowing us access to the VIP room, bar, backstage and the bands’ dressing rooms. Sweet!

We went upstairs and took our privileged position for the start of the show. The Editors – Tom, Chris, Russell and Edward - strode on stage as their faithful fans roared through the chambers of the Brixton Academy.

The 20 song set kicked off with "In This Light And On This Evening" - a predominantly instrumental yet powerful and dark song. The band immediately established their strong stage presence. There was never a dull moment as each member of the Editors was so lively on stage – with the bassist fly kicking through the air, the front man getting acquainted with every inch of the stage, the guitarist constantly trading in his axe for the piano and the pocket rocket of a drummer pounding the drums without drawing a breath.

The Editors stormed through a range of songs from their three studio albums, which judging by the fact everyone in the crowd seemed to know all the words, I’d say they were well-received and the audience was loving it. Loving it so much in fact that many were launching plastic cups full of beer across the mosh pit in their state of pure euphoria.

Even though from the VIP room I had no towering tall men blocking my view, no hairy under arms brushing my face and no beers flying over my head – it felt as though I was watching the band through a TV screen and the sound was ridiculously poor so I got back down there in the midst of the raucous crowd to take in the true atmosphere and experience of the performance.

The Editors’ standout songs were always welcomed with a thunderous bellow and dismissed with a triumphant applaud. These included the up-tempo; “Bullets,” “Blood” and one of my personal favourites “Munich.” There was also something magical in the moment that Tom Smith sung the captivating lyrics; “You came on your own and that's how you'll leave, with hope in your hands and air to breathe” in his beautiful dracula-isque voice during “An End Has A Start” that temporarily silenced the audience.

Call me an egotistic attention-seeker but I felt slightly disappointed that the band failed to interact with audience on a personal level. I always enjoy a bit of in-between song conversation, maybe an anecdote here and there, a dedication, a shout out – anything to remind the audience that the band is conscious and appreciative of the fans and that they are generally, genuinely enjoying themselves. The Editors barely stopped to speak to the audience, Tom would sporadically say “thank you” but other than that it was just song after song and I suppose I was expecting a bit more.

However they did make up for it with an entertaining performance. A great amount of effort was clearly put into making this a spectacular and visually appealing show. The Editors were accompanied on stage by an intriguing back drop and four massive video screens displaying patterns that would move concurrently with the music and almost blinding spotlights that would shoot out at the sea of people before them. On top of that, for the four-song encore The Editors employed pyrotechnics to ignite the crowds’ spirit during the song “Papillon”. Fire is a real crowd pleaser at concerts. And to really put the icing on the cake of what was truly a brilliant performance the crowd was showered with shiny confetti which exploded from the Brixton Academy’s ceiling in the finale song “Fingers In The Factories".

After the show we bolted for the exit doors to try and beat the crowd rush – it was no use. As we started making our way towards the tube amongst hundreds of other people who desperately wanted to get home. We stopped in the middle of the street, glanced at the VIP passes we had been bestowed with and thought to ourselves “Why on EARTH would we go home now when we can go party with The Editors backstage?!?” And that’s exactly what we did. We joined the band, their friends and their staff in the dressing rooms where complimentary beers, champagne, vegetable-flavoured crisps and chocolate crème eggs were being passed around. The lads from The Editors seemed really laid back and comfortable and were all very lovely to us – you couldn’t even tell they had just walked off stage from an explosive hour and a half live show in front of 4,000 people.

SET LIST:

In This Light And On This Evening Lights An End Has A Start You Don’t Know Love Bones A Life As A Ghost Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool Camera Blood Escape The Nest Last Day Bullets The Big Exit The Racing Rats Munich Smokers

-encore- No Sound But The Wind Bricks And Mortar Papillon Fingers In The Factories