It is 3rd time lucky as Belle & Sebastian are able to make their twice rescheduled date in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall.
Joined tonight by Drug Store Romeos who kick off to an extremely punctual crowd that are already close to filling the venue. Drug Store Romeos are not a band to jump around and try to grab the crowd with punchy hooks, they are far more modest, filling the room with soft vocals and dreamy indie pop melodies that get the crowd swaying approvingly. An appropriate appetiser for the intimacy of a Belle and Sebastian show.
The crowd filling Usher Hall provides a good indication of Belle & Sebastian’s broad appeal as the variety of t-shirts on show cover all genres from Misfits to Shania Twain. The band famously switch up their set list and tonight starts with Stuart on the piano for Nobody’s Empire. They are currently touring with no less than 9 members which while I am sure has its organisational challenges means each song has a large sound verging on orchestral and they can handle the wide variety of styles they have covered over 12 albums.
It doesnt take long for everyone (the Edinburgh groovers as Stuart starts referring to them) to get dancing the band follows up with I’m A Cuckoo. Between songs Stuart almost invokes the Glasgow vs Edinburgh rivalry before quickly reversing to discuss his afternoon having a nap in the local graveyard only to be stared at by tourists, he asks the band and crowd what they spent their afternoon doing and unlike most bands doing crowd work you get the impression that he really does want to hear the answer.
Sarah Martin takes over the vocals for Reclaim The Night before Stuart has to clarify he did only mean for a morning (maybe an afternoon) off when writing the next song I Want The World To Stop and was not hoping for the pandemic. Next it is time for yet another singer as Stevie Jackson provides vocals for Chick Factor.
Stuart returns to singing duties and is soon zipping around the stage on his scooter to the start of Your Covers Blown before describing the ‘love rhombus’ of 1987 captured in A Summer Wasting. Fan favourite The Boy With the Arab Strap is the opening sign for the Belle & Sebastian tradition of bringing 10 or so members of the crowd to dance and again the broad appeal of the band is on show as mohawked teenagers jump around the stage alongside ladies who have probably had lunch at some point.
After leaving the stage for a short encore Stuart is asking the crowd for their requests and it’s no surprise considering the size of their discography that not everything works first time and after a false start with Put The Book Back they switch gears and end on We Rule the School, Another Sunny Day and after double checking that they will not be kicked off stage like an unruly rock band they finish on Lazy Line Painter Jane.
It has been a night the fans have been waiting a long time for, Belle and Sebastian are unmatched in their ability to combine genuinely intimate moments alongside some of the catchiest indie pop around and tonight was more than worth the wait.
Words and pictures: Dale Harvey @daleharvey