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I first saw the Levellers live at T in the park festival a mere month after their now legendary performance on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival 1994. I’d been a fan of their music for a fair while beforehand and was never likely to be disappointed but the set, and in particular English Civil War, is still one of my favourite memories from innumerable festival weekends over the years.

I’ve been at a fair number of Levellers gigs since and although the drink is dearer these days, my knees are never as keen on dancing all night as they were and, tonight, the ABC glitter ball is a poor substitute for the summer festival sun, there is still no fear of disappointment. With many bands who have as large a back catalogue of music as the Levellers there is often the concern whether they’ll play only to promote the new album, will they still keep the old singles & chart hits in the set list and will they play my own personal favourites.

The Levellers are masters at crowd pleasing though — one of the reasons they have the reputation as a great festival band — and they know exactly the balance to strike. The ABC gig leans heavily towards the current new album Letters from the Underground which many have seen as more in touch with the band’s earlier albums such as Levelling The Land & showing a drift away from more recent output — this is given proof as A Life Less Ordinary & Cholera Well lead into the manic paced Riverflow before the encore break. Overall this bias means the band have played an almost non-stop fast & energetic set for this tour, throw in Carry Me, Far From Home and a little song called One Way and they’ve also played my personal favourites. You just can’t get a better gig than that.

A regret? My intention had been to go watch the Levellers gig in Inverness the night before without camera with just the intention, and freedom, to enjoy every moment dancing and bouncing off the barrier in the front row. Maybe next tour I’ll organise both a photo gig and a dancing/drinking gig. I’m looking forward to it already …

[flickr tag=levellers]
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