Shooting Our Mouths Off

Ever since the band announced they’d be performing Laid in full, the big question wasn’t if they’d play every track – that was guaranteed – but in what order. True to their unpredictable nature, many expected James to shake things up – but instead, they surprised us by going traditional and playing the album exactly as it was recorded.

Of course, the title track and ‘Sometimes’ are regular fixtures in the band’s setlist, and tracks like ‘Say Something’, ‘Five-O’, ‘PS’, and ‘Out to Get You’ appear fairly often. But last night gave fans something truly special: the live debut of ‘Everybody Knows’, alongside the first performances since 1994 of ‘Knuckle Too Far’, ‘Low Low Low’, and ‘Skindiving’ – with Chloe now taking on the haunting falsetto in the latter. Although Andy wasn’t part of the band when Laid was recorded, he’s composed new trumpet arrangements especially for this tour, with his performance on ‘Low Low Low‘ being a particular highlight.

Another standout moment was the return of ‘Lullaby’ – a poignant track that has made sporadic appearances in the setlist since its debut in 1993. Last performed in 2019 at Southampton Guildhall, its most iconic live outing remains the Live in 2008 album, where it was memorably introduced by comedian Peter Kay.

Though it was only performed a handful of times around the release of Laid, ‘Dream Thrum’ returned to the setlist in 2008 and has been a regular feature ever since – most recently at this year’s Sonorama Festival in Santander. The long-awaited return of ‘One of the Three‘ came after its last appearance on the 2016 Girl at the End of the World tour – featuring spine-tingling violin from Saul that was so powerful, it snapped his bow.

After a brief interval, the band returned to the stage for a powerful hour-long second set, blending beloved hits with tracks from last year’s #1 album Yummy. They opened with ‘Shadow of a Giant‘ and closed with a soaring rendition of Sound, featuring Andy’s trademark solo, performed from the balcony.