ShareWe Are Scientists performing their 21st Anniversary of With Love And Squalor Tour at Rock City Nottingham on Thursday 1st October 2026.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Rock City welcomed the American indie rock band, We Are Scientists, for the 21st anniversary celebration of their debut album, With Love and Squalor, on Thursday night.
Consisting of guitarist and vocalist Keith Murray, bass guitarist Chris Cain and long time touring drummer Keith Carne, they delivered a set list that contained every song from that much loved album as they opened with their most recognisable song, Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt and followed up with a powerfully uplifting performance of This Scene Is Dead.
With the crowd well and truly on board, they continued their performance with more favourites from the album, It’s A Hit and Lousy Reputation which both served as proof that the album has aged beautifully. Inaction was brought to life with Cain’s thundering bass line whilst a real highlight being The Great Escape with the guitar heavy sound travelling around the venue showing that this live performance stayed impressively true to their studio recordings.
The energy levels never dipped, with Murray’s tight guitar riffs, Cain’s thumping bass and excellent drumming from Carne which drove the set forward and they had the crowd on their side for the whole show. When the last song on the album, What’s The Word, was given an airing, the crowd cheered in appreciation.
To finish their set they played some scattered songs from more recent albums such as Buckle from 2016’s Helter Seltzer which with its stunning guitar duet from Murray and Cain evoked a huge crowd reaction. A powerful You’ve Lost Your Shit from 2021’s Huffy saw them combining explosive vocals and a catchy chorus with a head banging beat from Carne before they brought the main set to a close with Dinosaurs.
For the encore they delivered a beautiful rendition of Less From You before they finished with their second most popular hit, After Hours. We Are Scientists showed why they continue to draw devoted fans and win over new ones with their irresistible blend of indie rock anthems and tongue in cheek charisma which was both engaging and infectious.