Suede played the first of their three-night residency at London‘s O2 Academy Brixton last night (May 19), playing their 1993 self-titled debut album in full.
The reunited band are due to play 1994’s ‘Dog Man Star’ tonight and 1996’s ‘Coming Up’ at the venue tomorrow. Before the gig singer Brett Anderson was keen to stress that he feels the live shows have a strong contemporary feel despite showcasing their early work.
“You can’t be too historical and you got to have a bit of disrespect,” he told NME. “You can’t have self-parody and slapping your arse.”
The band – without original guitarist Bernard Butler, who has not been part of their reunion – played the whole of ‘Suede’ in order. This was followed by a selection of b-sides including ‘To The Birds’ and ‘My Insatiate One’, from their first single ‘The Drowners’.
“It’s strange being tied to a sequence,” Anderson said before the show. “Normally ‘So Young’ tends to come towards the end of a show when we normally play it.”
He added: “I’d sequence the album differently now, it’s very up, down, up, down. But there’s a historical element and you have to be faithful to it. Live, however, you can’t ramp up the rock dynamics like you can with normal shows. You have to give it its own headspace. We’re playing lots of stuff we don’t play often live. Things like ‘She’s Not Dead’ and ‘Breakdown’. It’s really exciting because sometimes when you’re touring you can switch off – with this you have to engage and maybe learn something new.”
Suede played:
‘So Young’
‘Animal Nitrate’
‘She’s Not Dead’
‘Moving’
‘Pantomime Horse’
‘The Drowners’
‘Sleeping Pills’
‘Breakdown’
‘Metal Mickey’
‘Animal Lover’
‘The Next Life’
‘High Rising’
‘He’s Dead’
‘My Insatiable One’
‘To The Birds’
‘Killing Of A Flashboy’
‘Can’t Get Enough’
‘Trash’
‘Beautiful Ones’
