It has been 34 years since I walked into Woolworths and bought ‘Unbelievable’ on CD single, followed quickly by ‘I Believe’ on CD single then Schubert Dip on Vinyl. My love for those songs has never wavered, they were at a perfect time at the start of the 90s.
Support was from ‘The Dirt’ from Manchester, described on their Facebook page as ‘A transglobal sonic psych punk duo blending guitar loops. percussion and punchy lyrics’. Great opener, punchy lyrics is bang on, passion and authenticity and mesmerizing guitar to support.
EMF take the stage!
The crowd is older, a sign of many years of support and appreciation. This is ‘NO’ heritage act! Yes the nostalgia is there for the ‘classics’ but there is a great new album ‘The Beauty and the Choas’ with tracks that sit alongside the older tracks like they’ve been there for years.
This is the EMF that we loved growing up, this is the EMF that we want to hear now.
All five members on stage were in it, were having fun, obvious banter with each other and the crowd which was clearly reciprocated. The chemistry is certainly still there and the performance was awesome. The years having removed the punch the music gives you. Awesome! On arrival, singer James Atkin was walking around stopping for the occasional selfie and speaking to people he knew, the vibe was as relaxed as it could be and the music was as good as it should be.
Setlist
- Children
- Long Summer Days
- Lies
- Read The Room
- Getting Through
- Sister Sandanista
- The Day The Music Died
- Inside
- Reach For The Lasers
- They’re Here
- Hello People
- 21st Century
- Unbelievable
- I’m a Believer
- I Believe
- Just Can’t Get Enough
- EMF
‘Hello People’ is a great new anthem and ’21st Century’ will be on my future playlists as are ‘Unbelievable’, ‘I Believe’ and ‘Children’. So glad they started with one of my EMF favourites! I don’t think Depeche Mode will be concerned about someone performing ‘Just Cant Get Enough’ better, by that point it didnt matter, it was fun, it was a laugh, it felt right, even if the words were not :D. If/when, EMF tour again, make the effort its a gig not to miss!
