Britpop survivors Suede at Southampton Guildhall: 'They truly soar' | Review

In the excellent first episode which looks at the scene’s origins, Suede justifiably take up a lot of screen time.

So, having spent some time with the 1992/3-vintage Suede recently, how is the 2023 version shaping up? And the answer has to be: very handsomely indeed.

While they can no longer claim to be part of the musical zeitgeist, their most recent album Autofiction was only held off the top spot by K-pop stars Blackpink. After originally splitting in 2003, the band reformed in 2010 and have since gone on to have one of the more satisfying second acts of any rock band.

Autofiction was billed as their ‘punk record,’ and while that may not be quite true, its more direct songs work well in the live arena – the opening salvo of its tracks Turn Off Your Brain and Yell, Personality Disorder and 15 Again is particularly effective. If the band have already been ecstatically received so far, when the rolling drum intro and riff of their debut single The Drowners starts up after this, somehow the crowd reaction manages to step up a further notch.

From here the set is a nice balance of Autofiction numbers and (bar The Invisibles from 2018’s The Blue Hour) pre-split classics.

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We Are The Pigs is announced with a clashing, chaotic intro, while Animal Nitrate and So Young from their self-titled debut remind you why this band were so vital to the youth of 1993.

Frontman Brett Anderson still cuts an impossibly louche-yet-lithe figure. Given the band’s infamously debauched heyday, I’d love to see the painting in his attic…

The fans worship him, but my god does he work for it. He may exude cool, but he’s not detached – he’s rarely still, shimmying across the stage, falling to his knees, leaping on and over the monitors, twirling his mic cord with glee, and coming down to work the front rows on a regular basis. His shirt is already soaked through by about the fourth song. He may not quite hit some of the high notes these days, but that distinctive voice is still there too.

No standing stock-still with your hands behind your back and glaring down the audience for this frontman.

The addition of Everything Will Flow from 1999’s Head Music in a stripped back version of just Neil Codling on keys and Anderson is a sweet touch.

Mid-set Anderson perches himself at the front of the stage and delivers a passionate speech about the communal power of live music, before singing a gorgeous, solo The Wild Ones with the sparest of guitar accompaniment. After this moment of relative calm, an unexpected highlight is provided by Can’t Get Enough. Not one of their smarter singles, here its glam-thuggery stomps like a brontosaurus.

Although Anderson is the focal point throughout he can only do it because of the assured backing of the rest of the band – Richard Oakes on guitar, Mat Osman on bass, Simon Gilbert on drums and Neil Codling on guitar/keys.

The finish with a one-song encore of Beautiful Ones and its crowd-pleasing ‘lalalala’ singalong.

Suede were one of the highlights of last year’s Victorious Festival, but here, among their own, they truly soar. On this evidence, their second act may not even have peaked yet.