Photo: iTunes Festival
Everybody crammed into the Roundhouse tonight knew exactly what to expect from Elbow’s iTunes Festival performance. This is a situation that from a fan’s perspective isn’t always the most enviable to find yourself in, after all some of the great live moments in the rock ’n’ roll canon have been the result of an off the cuff remark or a spur of the moment piece of virtuosity.
Tonight was not the kind of night that, and was ever going to veer too far from the well trodden path of the Elbow live experience.
For those expecting to be entertained by a frontman with dry wit and understated charisma, numerous “hands in the air” moments and some of the most life-affirming, anthemic chorus ever written by a British band, then they came to the right Camden venue. It was an appropriately low-key entrance to the stunning Roundhouse, which mirrored the inherent humility and understated Northern charm intrinsic in every atom of Elbow’s being, that marked the start of a show that, before the band Mancunian journeymen kicked off with 'Charge' - one of the stand out tracks from this year’s The Take off and Landing of Everything.
As one would expect, there were amusing moments aplenty courtesy of Guy Garvey’s everyman-salt-of-the-Earth persona including conducting the A cappella sing along of in support of their support; “Nick Mulvey should win the Mercury Prize” prior to 'Grounds of Divorce', the meter of the phrase fitting perfectly with the opening melody of arguably Elbow’s finest single.
The inclusion of material from the band’s earlier days (for example Asleep in the Back’s 'Scattered Black and Whites') was most welcome and effectively demonstrated the strength of the band’s entire back catalogue, pre-Seldom Seen Kid stardom, a fact that does appear lost on the majority of the Roundhouse audience given the rather muted reception these numbered receive.
Following a Garvey induced Mexican wave performed by those in the balcony, predictably 'One Day Like This' closed the set, but what else could? Is possible the band could accommodate a song of such magnitude and poignancy mid-set, or justify excluding it altogether? If Elbow proved one thing tonight, it’s that an age-old adage rings true; if it ain’t broken don’t fix it.
