Olympia Theatre, Dublin
Halfway through the opening Suede gig (one of three) at the Olympia , you stop hating singer Brett Anderson for looking so disgustingly wonderful at the age of 45 long enough to realise that the key to understanding this once “Most Important Band Ever” is to reposition them as a literate glam rock band.
It was always the punchy pop stomp of their oeuvre that distinguished them from their frankly ridiculous flag-waving Britpop contemporaries.
And tonight as they work their way through their graceful and still thrilling debut album you view them as belonging to a different lineage than that which is usually ascribed to them.
The five-piece Suede – still minus Bernard Butler – go from So Youngto The Next Life(the album's bookends) in a celebratory and joyous manner.
The big difference with the delivery – 18 years on – is that Brett Anderson, now that he has a few more hairs on his chest, has lost that awful helium-style falsetto he used to indulge in. As a result, there appears to be more meaning to his always underrated lyrics.
Highlights were many as a packed venue showed their appreciation – The Drowners sounded like they were playing it for their first time (but in a good way) and Metal Mickey still has that soaring pop propulsion.
The bonus tracks added in after the album finished were the two B-sides of The Drowners, To The Birdsand My Insatiable One(once covered by Morrissey).
They finished with two tracks from Coming Up (which they’re performing in its entirety at tonight’s gig), an exuberant Trash and a truly brilliant Beautiful Ones.
Glam rocktastic.
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