LIVE: ELBOW AT BRIGHTON DOME28TH FEBRUARY

It's a rare thing when you get full-on shivers down your spine while watching a band play. It takes a special band to perform that well, and Elbow are surely one of them. In the perfect location of the Brighton Dome, it was clear as soon as we walked in and sat down (seats!) that this would be one to remember. Only one support band tonight, in shape of Canadian band The Acorn, who Garvey has been championing on his BBC 6 Music show. I'd never heard anything from them but knew they were signed to Bella Union and was quite looking forward to checking them out. I wasn't disappointed, in fact I was pleasantly surprised at just how good they were, and by the sounds of it, so was the audience. Their music is a blend of delicate acoustic guitars, ukulele and piano that builds with pounding drums into majestic, soaring choruses. Singer Rolf Klausener held it together perfectly with fragile, moving vocals. Later Garvey spoke of their album: "It's very rare for a whole album to be written about one thing, but get under the lyrics of it and it will break your heart. Buy one for you and one the person you love, they'll thank you for it" I later discovered that the album 'Glory Hope Mountain' is about the life of Klausener's Honduras-born mother, and it is brilliant.

A short wait in arguably the best seats in the house followed until the lights went down and the crowd roared. The show was completely sold out and people were packed into every seat, and taking up any standing space available. The familiar synth gurgle that opens 'The Seldom Seen Kid' crept into life as shadows of the band moved onstage to move cheers. As the stagelights came up we could see all members of the band - bar the drummer - were holding trumpets. As 'Starlings' burst into life they all lifted their instruments to the air and released the crescendo with blinding lights hitting at the same time. It was quite an introduction. 'Bones Of You' and 'Mirrorball' followed, hinting at a play-through of their album - but it was only a teaser. The latter song was accompanied by two large mirror balls lighting the room, it was perfect, especially with a 'SSK' Rubiks Cube design hanging above the band.

Some older songs came next, including the title track from their last album 'Leaders Of The Free World' which was given a powerful kick performed live. These older songs were a reminder that there's much more to this band than the album that won the Mercury, and prompted me to revisit their back catalogue. 'Grounds For Divorce' brought us back to the new stuff, with the entire crowd chanting the "Woahh ohohohwoahooo" part, it sounded astonishing. The new songs were definitely best as they were accompanied by 4 female string-players - giving them a warm epic sound. 'Weather To Fly' was definitely a high point with Guy singing "Are we having the time of our lives?" for the audience to come back with a roar of affirmation. But closing with 'One Day Like This' was always going to be grand, and it was; with a bang of glitter and streamers exploding at the song's climax. Everyone was singing along, and people were dancing in the aisles, it was life-affirming.

The encore included a couple of poignant older songs as well as 'Some Riot' which sounded amazing live. As the band left to a standing ovation, I was left with an overwhelming thought that it was one of the best gigs I'd ever been to. Everyone there, not just Elbow, had the time of their lives.


MP3: The Acorn - Hold Your Breath
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MP3: Elbow - Starlings (Live At The BBC)
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