del Amitri performing at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on Wednesday 25th July 2018


Images and Review by Kevin Cooper

Justin Currie, front man with 80s band del Amitri, dips in and out of the band whilst pursuing his solo career, but last night at the Royal Concert Hall he was back on stage with the band’s founder member Iain Harvie to entertain an audience that have grown old with their songs.

Opening with a slow melodic acoustic version of Be My Downfall and the traditional crowd sing along number, their biggest hit Nothing Ever Happens, served to take the audience by surprise and had them standing in appreciation early on.

Joined by Andy Alston on accordion and keyboards, guitarist Kris Dollimore and drummer Ashley Soan, they soon turned it up a notch with the drum led Food For Songs, followed by a string of their hits such as Kiss This Thing Goodbye, Just Like A Man and When You Were Young that kept the audience out of their seats.

With their whole stage persona being a fine balancing act of performing serious and emotional songs with some rock posturing and just honest down to earth musicianship, del Amitri got it just right. There was the emotionally sad Driving With The Brakes On, a cover of Twenty One Pilots’ Heathens with its disturbing lyrics, the beautiful The Verb To Do and fans favourite Always The Last To Know.

With a run-in to the end which included Here And Now and the hangdog Spit In The Rain, Currie had not disappointed with his voice that had been superb throughout. Ending the show with Stone Cold Sober he spat out the words with as much venom as he did when he recorded it over thirty years ago.

Without any fanfare, del Amitri came back onto the stage for the encore and performed an exquisite version of one of Currie and Harvie’s greatest songs, Move Away Jimmy Blue that ticked all the boxes for a brilliant night of nostalgia.