Towards the end of a two hour set, Billy Bragg says he’s often asked: “Where are the upcoming political pop bands nowadays?”
“Ask a 15-year-old” is the advice of the now greying songwriter. And a few honourable exceptions aside (Idles, and perhaps Sleaford Mods who are hardly spring chickens themselves), he has a point.
Fortunately, for fans of socially-relevant rock from 15 – 115, we still have the Bard of Barking. And while he’s in decidedly pontificating mode tonight – well, given the world we live in, anything less would be a shock – he’s still highly entertaining to boot.
Kicking off with ‘Sexuality’, he’s immediately on the case of the busy Edinburgh crowd for their lacklustre and frankly tuneless singing, especially as we’re in a church – stopping the tune several times until we get it right (well, a bit better).
The stand-up patter comes thick and fast – Bragg is accompanied just by guitarist CJ, who after a recent Iceland show, went to the Blue Lagoon – “some sort of club” where his comedy foil was “up to his neck, possibly a euphemism”. And we’re told that braised puffin was a disappointment, tasting “just like penguin”.
But when pop and politics mix, there’s little time for frivolity. Thus, after a heartfelt ‘Warmest Room’ complete with beautiful slide guitar, we’re onto current affairs, if not songs. Indeed, some of the Woody Guthrie ‘Mermaid Avenue’ material as as ‘new’ as it gets, with Bragg delving deep into his back catalogue, including a version of ‘Man In The Iron Mask’, which requires levels of concentration that show why it’s such a rare entry in his setlists.
Bragg’s still in fine voice – well, he jokes that his manager once told him that people didn’t come to hear him sing, but with judicious use of falsetto, and a solid raft of ‘Spy Vs Spy’ and ‘Brewing Up’ material, we’re pretty much back to ’83, musically as well as politically.
It may be that more casual observers are unaware of what Billy Bragg’s been up to for the past couple of years – or indeed since ‘Between The Wars’, not aired tonight. Aside from authoring a book on skiffle (!), he’s recently put out a series of ‘singles’, including global warming warning ‘King Tide’, and ‘Saffiyah Smiles’. Inspired by Saffiyah Khan who famously faced down facist protesters in Birmingham, it stands shoulder to shoulder with his greatest past work, and is one of many high points tonight.
It’s gratifying to hear the response that the new material gets, but the promise has been made of 30 or so songs from across the years and by our reckoning that means a wave of nostalgia to close. Thus, a ‘Saturday Boy’ with 32 bars of imaginary trumpet on our part, segueing unexpectedly into ‘Seven Nation Army’, sets us on the road to a closing mini-set and encores redolent of a Jeremy Corbyn rally. A fist-pumping ‘Power In A Union’ is followed by a bouncing ‘Great Leap Forward’, where the revolution is “an ethically-sourced T-shirt away… available in the foyer”.
It’s this combination of politics and humour that means even fans wearied with a world of Trump and Brexit can still smile, and sing along to a full “Kirsty” version of ‘New England’, where tonight’s star turn doesn’t even need to utter a word.
And that’s why in times like these we need Billy Bragg more than ever.