11:00am Friday 14th May 2010
The Lightning Seeds
The Anvil
THE legendary Lightning Seeds rocked The Anvil on the last night of their nationwide tour.
Famously from Liverpool, and linked to the other Mersey bands of their generation and beyond, the band were at the forefront of 1990s guitar sounds.
Favourite songs from their landmark albums Jollification and Sense dominated the evening, alongside new ones from their latest release Four Winds.
Optimistic, though often with an underlying current of melancholy, Ian Broudie’s tunes make him one of the best songwriters of our time. He is a storyteller of English life.
It was the Three Lions anthem during the heady days of Euro ’96 that caught the country’s imagination and this – together with the brilliant Lucky You and the wall of sound of Change – had the audience dancing in The Anvil aisles.
Eighteen years ago, the single Life of Riley, a song named after Broudie’s son, was the soundtrack to Match of the Day’s goal of the month competition. Sharp-eyed gig goers will have noticed that Riley Broudie is, incredibly, now an accomplished bass player with the band.
Broudie’s work producing fellow Liverpool bands like The Zutons and The Coral has meant his influence on indie-pop tunes continues.
Fellow Mersey support act Stephen Langstaff’s acoustic soulful sounds captivated the near-capacity crowd. Already established in Liverpool and with a national tour completed, he’s been championed by Radio 2’s Bob Harris and has now conquered Basingstoke.
This gig was a real coup for The Anvil and, with other bands like Supergrass splitting up, it is a good job that The Lightning Seeds are still around.
The band will headline alongside Squeeze at both Reading’s Hexagon on November 15 and Southampton’s Guildhall on December 6. Definitely worth seeing.
–Richard Derbyshire
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