Having appeared solo, with the eponymously-titled Roachford, and as part of Mile + The Mechanics, to say vocalist Andrew Roachford knows a thing or two about performing would be something on an understatement. It’s a musical education that becomes immediately apparent when he arrives and launches into opening track ‘The Doctor’. With a voice that flows like a luxuriant river of silk, and backed by a solid band, there’s an ingrained sense of rhythm to tonight’s set, a ululation that renders it an organic affair. By the time we hit second song ‘High On Love’ the band are firmly in the groove with Andrew playing the crowd perfectly, but truth be told, they require little goading to sing and clap along, but when the songs are as good as ‘Crazy Love’, why wouldn’t you? As you’d expect, ‘Cuddly Toy’ nearly blows the roof off the venue before ‘Only To Be With You’ caps a short (but sweet) set.
With various albums and bands currently celebrating their 40th anniversary I’ve suddenly started to feel very old, yet of all the classic albums born in the year 1985 only Level 42’s World Machine has a timeless quality that suggests it could have been released at any point in the past four decades. That’s partly due to the album’s unique fusion of jazz, funk, pop and new wave, a rather strange amalgamation, but one that still sounds fresh today. It was a brave frisson, one that could have fallen flat and fizzled out or sparkled and fizzed; thankfully it was the latter and evidence of the album’s power is presented tonight as the band begin by playing that album in full, beginning with the majestic title-track. Appearing as a septet (including a three-piece brass section), Level 42 bring ‘World Machine’ to life with a full and lustrous sound. As with most of the tracks on this album (most notably the following ‘Physical Presence’), Level 42 offered a more cerebral approach to songwriting, as opposed to the hedonism that characterised much music from the mid-1980’s, and it is from here that World Machine derives much of its timelessness. Yet, the band can also do visceral, and pop music doesn’t get much more vital and urgent than ‘Something About You’. Performing the album with its original track listing and in a respectful manner, World Machine shows off all its various facets, its different flavourings transferring very well to the live environment. Thankfully Level 42 care enough about their past that the audience can relive a little of theirs.
From herein the band deliver a condensed “greatest hits” set, beginning with two from their following album, 1987’s Running In The Family. Due to time constraints someone is always going to disappointed with the track selection (my own bugbear is the omission of ‘The Chinese Way’ and ‘Heaven In My Hands’), but when the set list contains such gems as ‘The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)’ and ‘Starchild’, few can have any complaints. There’s something about the band’s groove laden sounds that gets the good vibes flowing and it’s almost impossible to sit still when Mark King’s funky basslines fill the air. Subsequently, final track ‘Lessons In Love’ gets everybody up and grooving (at least all those with a pulse) and magically turns the clock back 24 hours, turning a grey, autumnal Sunday evening into a sparkly Saturday night. Of course, the band return for two well-deserved encores, firstly going off script and surprising everybody with an impromptu version of ‘Heathrow’ and then an excitable ‘Hot Water’ taking us dangerously close to curfew and leaving a capacity crowd sated.
Level 42 Set List:
- World Machine
- Physical Presence
- Something About You
- Leaving Me Now
- I Sleep On My Heart
- It’s Not The Same For Us
- Dream Crazy
- Coup D’etat
- Lying Still
- To Be With You Again
- Running In The Family
- The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)
- Love Games
- Starchild
- Lessons In Love
Encores:
- Heathrow
- Hot Water
Roachford Set List:
- The Doctor
- High On Love
- Love Remedy
- Ain’t No Sunshine
- Crazy Love
- This Generation / Papa Was A Rolling Stone
- Cuddly Toy
- Only To Be With You
