I saw Chumbawamba many years ago in a dingey club in a dingey town before they ever met John Prescott, let alone threw anything at him. They were amazing then and I was really looking forward to seeing them at Guildford Live - their only UK appearance this year. Since their notoriety at the Brits a few years ago Chumbawamba have not been in the media much, and I wasn't sure if they would have any of their old 'edge' left. The hitcher we picked up on the way to the festival (Buck - great guy) told me that he feared the same, though he held the faith and was looking forward to stomping in front of the stage.
Neither Buck or myself were really disappointed. Chumbawamba came onto the stage with most of their old energy, despite the ensuing years and beer guts, and they were ready to confront the audience head on, starting their set with 'Can't talk 'cos your mouths full of shit' (the best ever song to put on your CD player when you've really had enough of someone and need to vent your frustration). The band consisted of the usual selection of keyboards, trumpet, bass guitar, guitar, 2 male vocals and 2 female vocals - one of whom is new and singing beautifully. Their set was generally very tight and hugely entertaining with costume changes throughout including the famous brick suit and nuns outfit.
The band chatted comfortably with the crowd and moved from song to song smoothly building the tempo as they went. A rendition of 'Tubthumping' got the crowd leaping about as it is their most well known song, but others went down well too including 'Bye, Bye' where the band (and the crowd) said 'bye bye' to their most hated people. Obviously the most popular goodbye on this day was to the Queen Mum who was celebrating her 101st birthday! The band finished off with three songs they referred to as 'anti-facist' which was great, but their anti-facism commentary was largely ignored by the crowd. I wondered why this was but realised that the band were preaching to the converted really.
The core fans near the front of the stage went wild throughout the set - I saw Buck's head bopping up and down while hands flailed around him. The rest of the crowd had a great time, but it was definitely the older songs which went down best. The new songs didn't really bring anything exciting to the Chumbawamba experience unfortunately - perhaps reaching middle age has meant that some of the edge has gone? We all had a bloody good stomp though!
Thai Green Curry, Sweetchilli chicken stirfry, Veggie noodles
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