It’s a chilly night and the crowd on Eastvale Place is as mismatched as ever. A security dude gets the honour of guessing where every new arrival is heading — and tonight he’s playing on easy mode.
A crowd of teenagers in hot pants swerve past me in a fit of lycra and giggles and head to the right.
The security dude gives me a look.
“Sea Power? Left.”
SWG3’s Warehouse is hosting American rapper J.I. — and many surely-freezing younglings — tonight. Even the boys are in shorts. I can only assume they anticipate a serious cardio workout inside.
The TV Studio crowd, on the other hand, have dressed for the weather, and will greet their esteemed headliners with polite enthusiasm to avoid Monday morning aches. At the show’s rowdiest peak, security will make one brief intervention – to ask one excitable gent to lower his walking stick.
Tonight celebrates Sea Power’s 2008 album ‘Do You Like Rock Music?’ and, like most anniversary shows, this one does what it says on the tin. That record, in full, followed a smattering of extras from the band’s rich back catalogue.
First, though, Edinburgh’s Callum Easter takes to the stage. An oddball with an accordion and an eclectic sound, he… fits perfectly on this bill. His intense persona and rhythmic punkiness give Jack White side project vibes.
The headliners have a clear and simple mission tonight – make sure we like rock music.
‘DYLRM?’ has aged well, and there’s not an inch of filler as they weave through bops like ‘Lights Out For Darker Skies’, the dramatic swells of ‘Waving Flags’ and the intriguing beauty of ‘The Great Skua’.
Unlike many a throwback show, this one doesn’t feel like we’ve stepped in a time machine to fulfil the desires of our younger selves, listening to a half-baked record buoyed by a couple of hits. There’s no awkward naivety to Sea Power’s old compositions; every moving part reflects a band who had already mastered their craft.
Perhaps it’s that Sea Power were never the kind to follow fads; or maybe it’s just that they’ve always been really blimmin’ timelessly good.
Their stage banter is minimal tonight and, unlike years gone by, there’s no man in a bear suit, no handstands or hanging from the ceiling. Their decorative foliage has had an upgrade, though – now adorned with fairy lights.
The closest we get to theatrics tonight is Phil Sumner giving an air raid siren a standard whirl, and drummer Thomas White — formerly of Electric Soft Parade — getting a piggy back from Jan on their way off stage.
The hefty encore comes mostly from latest album ‘Everything Was Forever’, with three tunes demonstrating succinctly that Sea Power have not lost their knack for weird, dark, earthy bangers that will probably also stand the test of time.
The 23-year-old ‘Remember Me’ – from their first album – remains especially dear to the Sea Power fan base and is greeted with measured jubilance by the orderly crowd. (Yes, this is the point where the man with the walking stick got his telling off). Then, after a joyous ‘Carrion’, a reprise of ‘All In It’ brings us back full circle, and masterfully caps off a top quality set.
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