After a 13-month delay Suede finally came back to Brussels with the last show of their 25th Anniversary tour celebrating their most critically acclaimed and biggest-selling album, Coming Up. Released in 1996, Suede’s 3rd album followed the epic, but often misunderstood, Dog Man Star and aimed to be in Brett’s words “a straight forward pop album”. Singer Brett Anderson, bass player Mat Osman, and drummer Simon Gilbert were joined on this album by Neil Codling on the key boards and a 17-year-old Richard Oakes on guitars; and boy did they deliver! Half of the album’s 10 songs reached the UK’s top ten singles’ chart. The line up to this day remains the same.
An eerie instrumental version of She prepares our senses as the band makes their way to the stage. A drumbeat later we are immersed into the world of Coming Up with the all-time classic: Trash. A huge screen fills the backdrop projecting images of the single’s artwork. Brett, as energetic and passionate as ever, runs and jumps around stage while reaching those high notes we know and love. “We come back, we always come back” Brett chats with an audience of adoring fans gathered at Cirque Royal, “we are the lovers on the street and the litter on the breeze” he continues as if naturally describing a common attribute of anyone present here tonight. Richard immediately shines with the rocking strings of Filmstar and Lazy. Brett swinging that mic high and wide as if it were an extension of his body – the crowd loves it! One of his signature moves. The mood softens as the nostalgic aura of By the Sea fills the air. Brett joins the unsuspecting audience on the nearby mezzanine and sits amongst them. Incredulous they admire his melancholic performance. Following the track order of the album, She comes up next followed by an amazing version of Beautiful Ones which starts with an a cappella chorus exchange between Brett and the audience. The crowd goes wild! Star Crazy and a “smashing song about car crashes”, Picnic by the Motorway, follow. Here the main audience finally gets their turn as Brett joins his loving fans in the crowd. Richard’s guitar solo in the Chemistry Between Us can only be described as heavenly - the man is a star! Brett goes on to joke about age (don’t we all now?), presents the band and thanks the crew for all their help during the tour before Saturday Night, the last song of the album, begins to play. But let’s not panic yet! We know there is still more to come; little did we know we were in for a real treat.
After a brief pause the band returns on stage for the second act. “For the past 4 years we’ve been writing songs”, says Brett and immediately we are treated to the live debut of their new single She Still Leads Me On; and he certainly still leads us on. Snowblind, It Starts Ends With You follow, Killing of a Flashboy, and the ominous sounds of We Are The Pigs begin to play. They walked in beauty like the night as they performed Heroin, a personal favorite and an assault to the senses. “I’ll never be normal” Brett emphasizes while throwing himself on the floor flirting with the stage in glorious style. Tides is followed by a sublime solo acoustic version of Wild Ones, just Brett and his guitar. The Londoners finish off this nostalgia trip catapulting us to the early 90s with high-powered anthems So Young, Metal Mickey and Animal Nitrate. Energy levels are intense as Brett climbs on the sound system, hips swaying, chord swirling, mic hip-smacking, jumping up and down like there is no tomorrow, barely stopping to catch his breath - his voice remains impeccable. A master class on what a frontman should be. At this point the whole venue is a wave of bodies jumping up and down, going along with any and of all of Mr. Anderson’s requests. The last chord is played and the band leaves the stage.
To euphoric applause the band returns on stage to deliver us one final song: Life Is Golden, a song personal to Brett about “sadness and children, mothers and fathers”. Brett explained. The Coming Up tour reminds us of how brilliantly Suede masterfully utilizes language to paint a picture and caress our senses while melodic riffs of timeless anthems send an electrifying voltage thru our veins.
Suede gave it all tonight, all the drama, all the passion, all the energy and vigor. Suede’s performances continue to be an electrifying spectacle and I cannot wait to see these glamorous wild ones once again.
© Laura Ballesteros