Review | Billy Bragg at Portsmouth Guildhall: "His conviction pours out"

What did I know of Mr Bragg? A political activist writing some of the best protest songs in the recent past and views I may have big differences with, but I do admire those who stick to their guns in an informed, polite yet firm way. Billy Bragg is one of those.

I went to the Portsmouth Guildhall with no real expectations but really enjoyed the music and was pleasantly surprised by how good his vocals were in different styles – including punk, soul, country, folk and electric.

A very sizeable crowd were treated to a “40 years in 40 minutes” film to begin with of Billy, from his debut on The Tube in 1983 through television, concerts, recordings and interviews to Sydney, Australia 2023. It’s a great idea, very well put together and expertly cut to keep everyone’s attention throughout.

Onto the Roaring 40 tour, which is self-explanatory. A basic set up of Billy centre-stage (CJ Hillman on guitars and keyboards and JJ Wilde, also keyboards, both for some of the time), Billy the raconteur and singer, providing background and stories to a lot of the songs, a sweep though his four decades.

If anybody in the audience had any doubts beforehand on Billy’s thoughts and views on politics and various social issues, they was no doubt after the two-hour show. Most of the audience was an echo chamber to this but for everyone it’s his conviction that pours out.

His opener was directly about the Gaza/Palestinian issue, while others included King Tide and the Sunny Day Flood, climate change and flooding in Florida; Sexuality’s lyrics are tweaked for the trans debate and a jibe at Morrissey, no love lost there for sure; Mid-Century Modern is about men and sexual violence; Levi Stubbs’ Tears sounds like The Jam – Paul Weller being somebody Billy clearly admires; Join A Union, to save the working classes, but also the beautifully soulful I Will Be Your Shield, a Covid song, and then, the highlight for me, Tank Park Salute, a wonderful homage to the father Billy lost to cancer when he was only 18.

The show ends with Power to the Union and Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards, then a 17-minute encore run through of his brief debut album, Life’s a Riot with Spy vs Spy, culminating with a raucous audience-led rendition of A New England.

Billy says at one point that he had a morbid fear of being slick; no chance of that, for me, creating a better show. He is very comfortable on stage and his interaction with the audience is very good. It’s a very enjoyable evening even though I didn’t agree with everything he spoke about.

I loved his summary, to paraphrase, that music cannot change the world but music has the power to make you believe the world can be changed.