Live and Unwashed! (Levellers in general)

Member Name: ihatebroccoli

Product:	Levellers in general
Date:	09/12/00 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant atmosphere created by playing the old classics

Disadvantages: Not enough "crusties" around these days

I went to see the Levellers last night at the Brixton Academy, and it was the best gig I’ve been to in a long time. The atmosphere was fantastic, everyone was having a good time, and there was moshing-a-plenty from the stage to the very back of the Academy. This was the first time I had been to an actual Levellers gig, as I’d seen them live before at festivals, but never at their own gig. I’ve been a fan for some years – since Levelling the Land and A Weapon Called the Word, but haven’t really managed to get into their more recent stuff. This however, didn’t stop me going to see them, as some of my other friends declined to come along based on their theories that the band had become “too commercial” and too chart-friendly blah blah blah.

Those friends missed out big time however, as the Levs played some classics, such as: The Boatman, The Game, Fifteen Years, Far From Home, The Riverflow, Battle of the Beanfield, along with slightly more recent stuff: Hope St and What a Beautiful Day, and then some stuff off their new album – Hello Pig. They were forced to come out twice for encores, playing Another Man’s Cause amongst others. I almost felt as if I *was* at a festival at one point, as, at first, everyone was sitting on the sloping floor (rather hill-like), with their beers, the shape of the stage looked very similar to one of the stages at Glastonbury for example (where I saw the Levs before). The stage was a large squared-off arch, and when the floodlights were turned on the audience, it really did have the effect of the festival stage.

There were far fewer “alternative” people or “crusties” (i.e. dreadlocked folk) as I call them, at the gig, than I would have expected. I guess, seeing as The Levellers seemed to have started to move away from their old image of rebellious music-playing traveller types, previously fighting against the Criminal Justice Act and protes
ting against various bypasses being constructed. I feel a little sad that this phase now seems to be passing on, as its what I remember them for. The only piece of this which seems to have remained, is the “anti “The Pigs”” thing, which seems to be associated with their current album. The social and political commentary is still there, but somehow it doesn’t have as much bite as it used to.

Nevertheless, it was a brilliant gig, and I was thoroughly sweated out by the end of it. As I have never been to The Brixton Academy before, I thought it was an excellent venue, and am very glad the rumours of it closing were only that. I can’t understand why more venues aren’t set out in the same way. As the Academy was once an old cinema, the floor slopes down towards the stage (where the seats and the aisles used to be), therefore, no matter where you stand in the stalls, you can always see the stage (unless some seven foot tall bloke comes and stands in front of you! There were midgets in front of us thankfully). It is very near to Brixton tube station (virtually across the road), which is on the Victoria line, so it’s very accessible from the centre of London.

Getting back to the Levs, the live performance was excellent and they were just as good as I remember. They even had a female guest Cellist, who played on some of their more recent songs. Jeremy (Bass player) was great as ever, with his ridiculously long dreadlocks swinging about and hitting him in the face as he jumped around, never forgetting to thank the audience after every song. Jon was amazing on the violin, and his playing is probably my main attraction to the music of the Levellers, being a fellow violinist. Charlie was great on Drums, coming out to the front with his singular drum for the introduction to Battle of the Beanfield. Simon and Mark were great as ever on guitar and vocals, keeping the energy going for the crowd.

They had a la
rge pink pig on top of the speakers with a flashing green eye, and two little piglets at either side of the stage, a la “Hello Pig”. The lighting effects were very good, with the appropriate coloured lighting was used for ballad-type songs (atmospheric blues and greens), and the full on flood beams for more “jumping around” songs.

The Support Bands:
I’m not entirely sure what I thought of the two support bands, and this probably won’t be very helpful to you, as it was so loud that I couldn’t make out what they were called. First on was a band from Belfast, who seemed to be a cross between the DumDums, and the Levellers themselves - they were good nevertheless. Second was a rather unusual band, which didn’t seem to know what style it was. They started off by playing Rap Reggae, and then moved into ballads, folk, rock, and so on. My friend went to the loo, came back and thought a different band was on, but it was still them. So, they were appropriate supports, is all I can really say.

A brilliant live gig, and a brilliant band live. Great venue, great crowd atmosphere, and some classic songs.

Check out: http://www.levellers.co.uk (official Levellers site) for details of future gigs.

Summary: