On a night that saw temperatures drop to minus 9 degrees it was well worth venturing out into the cold. Having got into Birmingham early we headed across town and ended up at The Slug and Lettuce for a brandy before nipping back over to the ICC for a baked potato.
Doors opened at 8 and not long after Daniel Kitson and Gavin Osborn took the stage. A comedian and songwriter respectively. Daniel narrated a story of unrequited love interspersed with songs from Gavin. An unusual support act but one that drew me in. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
After an interval the orchestra took the stage, a minute or so later the band joined them. There was a small ripple of applause before they went into I Fought In A War. A slow start building steadily. . The audience were quite subdued, mainly due to the surroundings, and after a while Stuart spoke and gave people permission to dance. The staff, however were still insisting people stayed in their seats.
The set itself was varied, taking something from most albums except Tigermilk. New songs included I Didn’t See It Coming, Travelling Light (one dropped from the new album), I’m Not Living In The Real World and I Want The World To Stop.
Highlights included Sukie In The Graveyard, The Boy With The Arab Strap (even the orchestra was dancing at this point) and I’m Waking Up To Us. The orchestra added a new dimension and songs such as There’s Too Much Love, Fox In The Snow and Lord Anthony sounded great. The show ended with Sleep The Clock Around which was nothing short of epic.
After everyone had left the stage the band returned for an encore. Someone from the audience requested Expectations and due to a problem with one of the guitars Stuart agreed until he realised he didn’t have the words with him. Instead we were treated to Another Sunny Day and Me and The Major. Both sounding great.
The last time I saw Belle and Sebastian was about 10 years ago and I wondered how their live show would be now that Isobel had left. On the strength of last night’s performance they were as good as they have ever been.
Here they are doing Sleep The Clock Around.
