Shooting Our Mouths Off

The Love is the Answer tour is officially underway! Opening night at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena gave fans their first look at how the setlist has evolved from the warm-up shows, alongside the breathtaking, large-scale visuals that fans can expect throughout the tour.

At the VIP soundcheck, the band performed three songs and answered a handful of questions. One fan asked why they had all switched places on stage, and Jim explained that it was due to problems with one of his ears. The first song was ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’, followed by ‘Nantucket’ – both new tracks that had already been played at the warm-up shows and are still very much works in progress. Tim mentioned that he had been working on the lyrics as recently as the night before. Small changes are already beginning to emerge, so it will be interesting to see how the songs evolve over the course of the tour. The final song was the jaunty ‘I Know What I’m Here For.’

The band had changed their opening song at both of the warm-up shows, so there was real anticipation about how they would begin the first arena date. In the end, they chose ‘Come Home’, instantly lifting the atmosphere and energising the crowd. They kept that momentum going with ‘I Know What I’m Here For’ and ‘Ring the Bells’, before slowing things down for ‘Greenpeace’. A new addition to the set on this run of dates, it showcased the band at their very best, coming together seamlessly as a unit.

‘Shadow of a Giant’ and ‘Way Over Your Head’ were the only two tracks from Yummy to appear in the set, placed back-to-back to create two beautiful moments. Chloe’s angelic vocals on the former were elevated by the string arrangements, with Adrian on cello and Saul on violin adding extra depth and emotion. On the latter, Chloe’s voice was once again stunning, intertwining with Tim’s at the start of the song. The pair faced each other as they sang, making the connection between them feel even more powerful, before later stepping out onto the walkway together for the outro, with Chloe holding hands with fans.

Other slower-tempo moments in the set came with ‘Five-O’ and ‘Out to Get You’. Saul began ‘Five-O’ from the very front of the stage, as he had in Bournemouth, captivating the crowd with his violin playing before Tim’s vocals arrived at precisely the right moment. ‘Out to Get You’ again highlighted Saul’s talents on the violin, alongside Mark’s work on the melodica, particularly during the extended improvised outro. Delicate and emotionally charged, it is a song that places Tim’s vocals front and centre, each line delivered with a real sense of feeling.

Though material from Yummy is the band’s most recent to be released, the band made a bold choice for an arena show by debuting the two unreleased tracks, ‘Nantucket’ and ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’. While the latter was the catchier of the two, it was nine minute wonder ‘Nantucket’ that drew the biggest reaction – a testament to the fans’ appreciation of the band’s willingness to take risks and remain experimental in their songwriting after all these years. The band improvised an extended intro to ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’ after Tim became stranded in the crowd during one of his trademark wanderings during ‘Born of Frustration’, ‘Say Something’ and ‘She’s a Star’, when he made his way through the audience, visiting fans in the seats and dancing around the first tier before returning to the stage.

After ‘Getting Away With It’ – complete with Andy manipulating his effects to create an almost screeching sound – the main set drew to a close with ‘Sound’, during which he delivered his soaring trumpet solo from the crowd. The final song of the night was ‘Sometimes’, with Debbie adding to its driving acoustic feel by picking up a guitar. A fan favourite and one of the band’s live highlights, it brought the evening to a close with its almost gospel-like singalong, uniting all 16,000 people in the arena.