Live Review

The Levellers – Kentish Town Forum

• 5th May 2009

It just doesn’t seem possible for the Levellers to put in a bad performance. They have so many decent tunes behind them, and the majority of them coming over even better when heard live. It doesn’t matter if they don’t play your out and out favourite as even the lesser known tracks they chose to play are always played with sheer enthusiasm. And if the band is not trying their best then they are doing a very good job of hiding it.

It’s been the better part of a decade since I saw them last. Back then it was an almost astonishing performance they put in. So as much as you have faith in a band that know how to play a decent live set, you do wonder if it will be as good. All the guys on stage put pretty much everything into each moment of every song. Whether it’s the people feeding off the band or the band taking in the vibe form the crowd is unsure, but it’s a powerful performance and the Kentish Town Forum beautifully handles the pitch. The sound is remarkably clear and the atmosphere is an energetic one.

They haven’t lost their rag tag look either. The bassist Jeremy Cunningham’s dreads pretty much hit the floor as he prances about the stage with a huge smile on his face; Mark Chadwick still has the 80’s Bill Murray hair; Simon Friend now looks like Willie Nelson and Jonathan Sevink Looks alarmingly like Rhys Ifans. You feel kind of sorry that the drummer and Keyboardist have to pretty much remain sat behind their instruments as these four are having a hell of a time making use of the space around them.

The majority of the songs played tonight are Leveller’s classics. The show itself consists of a main hour performance followed by a three song encore and then one final send off after. To list the songs played just make fans nod their head in approval (Yes, “One Way”, “World Freak Show”, Liberty Song” and so on). What was surprising to this fan was that the track list also included B-Song “Dance Before the Storm” which only ever appeared as an extra track on the original 15 Years CD Single back in the early 90’s. It is a song that was criminally left off the “Levelling the Land” album, but must surely have been a fan favourite for it to be played. And it’s a tune and a half too.

But time comes for the show to end finally and it’s another notch for the band. Easily qualifying them for one of the UK’s best live performing acts and have been for some time.