Elbow return to Brighton for an epic celebration of their tenth album

I’m lucky, as it was my second time seeing one of Britain’s most beloved bands and it was every bit as good as the first time, if not better.

Last night, Brighton Centre was the first stop (bar a couple of northern warm-ups) on the band’s Audio Vertigo arena tour, to celebrate their tenth album of the same name.

Opening with two songs from the new album, Things I’ve Been Telling Myself for Years and Lovers‘ Leap, it was an impressive start.

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Other tracks from the new record included the The Picture, Good Blood Mexico City and Balu, all of which were firm favourites with me and I think the whole crowd by the time the evening was out.

And then there were the Elbow classics like Ground for Divorce, Magnificent, My Sad Captains and what must be the band’s signature track One Day Like This, which ended a wonderful two hours of timeless and anthemic songs.

It’s testament to the song-writing that no matter how many times I listen to these tracks, I never ever get bored of them. And hearing them live is just on another level.

That’s in no small measure down to frontman Guy Garvey. His voice is mesmerising because it’s so pure and effortless.

And it’s not just his insane vocal abilities that make this a great gig. It’s him. He’s so affable you can’t help buy like him.

It feels like it’s important to him. He’s not just going through the motions, he actively wants you to have a good time.

The audience are encouraged to sing along to almost every song, regardless of if they know it, and clapping and hand-waving are almost a prerequisite. It’s not enough that you sit there and watch them sing, Guy wants you to have the full Elbow experience.

We all certainly did last night and I really hope they come back to Brighton soon so I can do it all over again!