My self-imposed rule for 2026 of not paying to see artists I'd already seen very much fell by the wayside as the year drew to a close, but in my, albeit weak, defence, some were very reasonable.
Having got a ticket (unexpectedly) to see Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn again, I then bought a ticket to see Skinny Lister again and then, at the very last minute, got the chance to see Editors do one of the 'album release mini-gigs', courtesy of Banquet Records.
£17 for the new album on CD, plus the gig, was too good to pass up on.
I arrived in good time for the gig, about 7:30, but it seemed quite empty when I arrived and I was able to get a good space, to the left of the stage.
By the time 8PM rolled around, though, the venue looked pretty much full to me and three members of the band (Tom Smith, Russell Leetch and Elliott Williams) took their places on seats on the stage.
With these events, you expect to hear a lot of the tracks of the new album and, sure enough, they started with the title track "Surface, Echo and Sound".
However, it was very clear that the performance tonight was going to sound quite different to the album (and their usual powerful Indie rock concerts) as they had acoustic instruments, Tom on guitar, Russell on a bass guitar and Elliott with a mandolin which was going to play a big part in the sound.
However, it was nice to hear the second track was "Ton of Love", an older song, so we were going to get a mix of old and familiar (if acousticly rendered) tracks.
Next up was "Call It In", which I think was the first single from the new album and, on the record, quite a traditional sounding Editors track, pacey with lots of guitar.
Even with a mandolin doing a lot of the heavy lifting, it still sounded good.
Another new track, "Seriously" followed by their first single, "Bullets" and "Shadow" (which I really enjoyed here) and then their signature track "Munich".
They kept the mix going with "Rescue" and "Happiness" from the new album being mixed in with familiar tracks "Papillon", "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" (a great rendition of this song, which got a huge cheer and long applause) and "The Phone Book".
They thanked the crowd for coming and sticking with them throughout the years and then finished on what sounds to me like the most Editors like track, "The Rush", which I was surprised to find out started out as a track for Tom's solo album (which I'm not a great fan of, if I'm honest), but really sounds like a track that could have been lifted from any of their early albums.
It got a great reception and then they were gone, having played just over an hour.
I've got a ticket to see them at Southampton Guildhall (where I've seen them twice before and they've been brilliant) in 2027, so I'll get the full band experience then, but this was an interesting and enjoyable gig with tracks, old and new, performed in a stripped back form.
Setlist:
Surface, Echo and Sound
A Ton of Love
Call It In
Seriously
An End Has a Start
Bullets (Restarted after Tom forgot to start playing)
Shadow
Munich
Rescue
Papillon
Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors
The Phone Book
Happiness
The Rush
