Public Service Broadcasting seem to get better and better. This was at least the fifth (possibly the sixth) time I’ve seen them in as many years. Always entertaining, they have got more political: they started out almost as a novelty act – how could two guys make all this music?! – but they have got more nuanced, more complex. The old material of still very good, but the newer tunes have more depth.
Tonight they played things from each of their three studio albums. (Nothing from The War Room that wasn’t on Inform-Educate-Entertain. That is, Spitfire, which was brilliant as ever.) And they seemed to play chunks from their albums – several tunes from each before moving to the next, with Every Valley featuring two chunks.
It was a great show. I was pretty near the front. The bass player, JF Abrahams, is the most lively performer, and gives them a bit more energy on stage, which benefits shows in larger venues; Wigglesworth is stuck behind his kit, J Willgoose Esq hides behind his keyboards even when playing guitar, barely lit. Wigglesworth is the driving force behind the band, though. Willgoose might be the brains, but Wigglesworth is the pounding heart.
The lights, projections and props add much to the live show: they’re an intrinsic part of the performance. (And how many others bands take a pit-head on tour? Or a satelite? Or…) I can’t help thinking they should perform Every Valley at the Scottish Mining Museum – with a real pit-head to play with.
Given their reliance on samples and what might seem a formulaic approach, the emotional heft of PSB’s music is surprising. Maybe I’m just growing sentimental, but several of their tunes pull strongly on my heartstrings, or send shivers over my skin.
A very impressive performance!
