I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: April 26, 2024] Belle & Sebastian

I was shocked to discover that it had been SEVEN YEARS since we’d last seen Belle & Sebastian.  I would have sworn that the show at the Mann was just a couple of years ago.

But I see that in 2019 we just “didn’t feel like going” to Union Transfer.  What?  That’s insane–I mean, not really, I’ve felt like that many times, but in retrospect to miss out on a B&S show was crazy.

Then in 2022, the show was scheduled on the same night as my daughter’s graduation.  And last year they cancelled the tour for health reasons.

My wife and I were pretty excited to go to this show and then it turned out their Girl Scout troop scheduled a trip leaving on Friday night.  So she had to miss the show.  And I hate to say this, but she would have loved the show–a setlist geared very much to her.

But it was also geared to me, because holy cow they played all kinds of great songs.

They even joked about how anyone who followed them back in the old days would be shocked at how different they are now, and it’s true.  Their early albums were quiet and introspective, but as they played more and more they got really fun and dancey.

Indeed, they started with two songs off of Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance, and it boded very well for the rest of the night.

When we had seen them in recent days we had seats and were never all that close.  (And when my friend Ailish and I saw hem in 2002, we were pretty much at the back of the crowded room).  So I was just a few feet away from them tonight and it was wonderful.

Even though they were touring for a new album (an album that I hadn’t really listened to), they only played two songs from it (the rocking Stevie-sung “So in the Moment” and the massively upbeat “Give a Little Time” sung by violinist/keyboardist Sarah Martin.

In between those, they played “Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying” which is a lot more bouncy than it was on the debut album.

But after “Give a Little Time,” Stuart said that the next song on the setlist (If She Wants Me) didn’t really fit the mood, so they jumped to Sukie in the Graveyard (which actually sounds pretty similar).  They then moved on to “Another Sunny Day.”

And then it was four bopping songs from The Life Pursuit.  I’ve always loved “Sukie in the Graveyard” so it was fantastic to hear it live for the first time and “Another Sunny Day” is just so much fun (when we saw them last time it was the encore song).

For reasons I don’t understand, I had “Piazza New York Catcher” running through my head before the show so it was weird (but cool) that they played it before jumping back to The Life Pursuit for “Dress Up in You” and “To Be Myself Completely,” two songs I hadn’t seen them play live before.

Stuart made some comments about Philadelphia.  I actually didn’t know anything about the history of Belle & Sebastian in Philly.  Back in 1998 (summary from NME)

Cellist Isabel Campbell had to be taken to hospital after she suffered a reaction to antibiotics she was taking for the ‘flu.  The band’s Friday (October 23) show at the Philadelphia Trocadero was pulled at the last minute. The band were half-an-hour late for their show before Stuart Murdoch appeared on stage and told the audience that they would not be appearing.

And then this follow up from WXPN & The Key.

When the band finally did play their first local gig in 2002 at the Tower Theater, they brought boxes of shirts emblazoned with the words “I’m a Philly Survivor, Love B&S” and dutifully handed them out to the fans to apologize. Every time they have come to our fair city since, they’ve continued to pay tribute to Philly, whether starting the show with the Rocky fanfare, walking out on stage to the opening of Trading Places projected in the background, or like last night, telling a hilarious story of Rittenhouse Square quirkiness resulting in a sing along to The Zombies’ “Time of the Season.”

Stuart said they were hanging around in Rittenhouse Square and someone was playing the opening to Time of the Season over and over and he felt compelled to join in.  So he started singing the song and the band and audience joined in.

I sometimes forget how much I listened to some of their older albums, like 2006’s Books.  So it was great to hear Your Cover’s Blown.

I was blown away last time when they played Fox in the Snow, a sweet throwback to an early song.  It was less exciting for me to hear it tonight (even though it is lovely) but I think others were still thrilled to hear it.

After playing “Simple Things”, they invited everyone on stage to dance for “The Boy with the Arab Strap.”  It’s an insane amount of people on stage (including a boy wearing one of those giveaway shirts–it was his fathers!).

They ended with two older classics, and the set closing “I Didn’t See It Coming.”

After a brief break, they came back out and played what they said was Stevie’s favorite song, a deep B-side that I love called “Photo Jenny.”  Back in the old days, they had released a bunch of EPs around the same time and the songs on them were great.  This is one of them and they put a ton of energy into it.

There was a lot of chatter from the front row asking for Judy.  I assume Judy and the Dream of Horses, although someone clearly shouted for Judy is a Dickslap which would have been amazing to hear. Instead, they ended with the riotously fun “Sleep the Clock Around.”

It’s amazing how much this seven-piece band (who haven’t lost many members since they started in 1996) has morphed from quiet-twee folkies to outright dancers.  And their audience still loves them.

It was a fantastic show.  I was also lucky enough to get a photo of the setlist, just as someone from the front row was yelling at the kid who had the setlist because “you know that the setlist rightly belongs to [her friend].”   I quickly got away from there.  Who knew B&S fans could get so riled up.

 

Union Transfer 2024	The Mann Center 2017
Nobody’s Empire δ	Act of the Apostle ⇔
Allie δ	I’m a Cuckoo ♥
So in the Moment Ø	We Were Beautiful ¿
Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying ⊗	The Model Æ
Give a Little Time Ø	If She Wants Me ♥
Sukie in the Graveyard ⇔	Sweet Dew Lee ¿
Another Sunny Day ⇔	The Fox in the Snow  ⊗
Piazza, New York Catcher ♥	My Wandering Days Are Over ≅
Dress Up in You ⇔	Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John ♦
To Be Myself Completely ⇔	Play For Today δ
Time of the Season (snippet) [Zombies cover, while telling a story]	A Summer Wasting ℵ
Your Cover’s Blown ∈	The Boy with the Arab Strap ℵ
The Fox in the Snow  ⊗	I Didn’t See It Coming ♦
Simple Things ℵ	Sleep the Clock Around ℵ
The Boy with the Arab Strap ℵ	encore
There’s Too Much Love Æ	Another Sunny Day ⇔
I Didn’t See It Coming ♦	Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying ⊗
encore
Photo Jenny Ψ
Sleep the Clock Around ℵ

 

Radio City Music Hall 2015	Hammerstein Ballroom 2002
Nobody’s Empire δ	Le pastie de la bourgeoisie ‰
I’m a Cuckoo ♥	Dirty Dream Number Two ℵ
The Party Line δ	unknown
The State I Am In ≅	Seeing Other People ⊗
Dirty Dream Number Two ℵ	A Century of Fakers ‰
Perfect Couples δ	Wandering Alone ∑/©
Piazza, New York Catcher ♥	Slow Graffiti Δ
Allie δ	My Wandering Days Are Over ≅
The Cat With the Cream δ	Scooby Driver ∑
If You’re Feeling Sinister ⊗	(I’m Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear [Blondie cover]
The Wrong Girl Æ	The Stars of Track and Field ⊗
Dear Catastrophe Waitress ♥	The Boy with the Arab Strap  ℵ
If You Find Yourself Caught in Love ♥	We Rule the School ≅
The Boy with the Arab Strap ℵ	Is It Wicked Not to Care ℵ
I Didn’t See It Coming ♦	String Bean Jean õ
Sleep the Clock Around ℵ	The Loneliness of the Middle Distance Runner ≥
encore	The Wrong Girl Æ
Lazy Line Painter Jane Ψ	Women’s Realm Æ
Judy and the Dream of Horses ⊗	Legal Man ≥
	Judy and the Dream of Horses ⊗

≅ Tigermilk (1996)
⊗ If You’re Feeling Sinister (1996)
Ψ Lazy Line Painter Jane (1997)
õ Dog on Wheels EP (1997)
‰ 3.6.9. Seconds of Light EP (1997)
ℵ The Boy with the Arab Strap (1998)
≥ Legal Man EP (2000)/Push Barman to Open Old Wounds (2005)
Δ This is Just a Modern Rock Song EP (2000)
Æ Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant (2000)
∑ Storytelling (2002)
♥ Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)
∈ Books (2004)
⇔ The Life Pursuit (2006)
© BBC Sessions (2008)
♦ Write About Love (2010)
δ Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance (2015)
¿ How to Solve Our Human Problems (Part 1) (2017)
Ø Late Developers (2023)