ShareRazorlight performing their RazorWhat? The Best Of Razorlight Tour at Rock City Nottingham on Friday 21st April 2023.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Formed in 2002, indie icons Razorlight were at Rock City on Friday night for a sold out show after an increasingly fraught relationship saw front man Johnny Borrell and drummer Andy Burrows trading blows in a Camden pub, which resulted in an implosion in 2009.
After a decade of frosty silence, session musicians and questionable solo albums, the original line up which also included guitarist Bjorn Agren and bassist Carl Dalemo were back together to deliver a set that was high energy and full of hit after hit.
Opening their set with a rousing Rip It Up from their 2004 debut album, Up All Night, they quickly followed up with their hit In The Morning which immediately had the crowd on side. Showing that they are still a well oiled machine, Borrell has a commanding stage presence. Their music is still tight with Agren and Dalemo’s riff work interlocking wonderfully as Burrows pounded the drums.
The glorious Golden Touch, the song that sky rocketed them into the public stratosphere still has a coiled tension, and the crowd filled the room with their vocals, as the band brought the sound and tempo back up. I Can’t Stop This Feeling I’ve Got is a stadium sized ballad and In The City, a bleary eyed song that was brilliant live.
The Rock City massive went predictably bonkers for their old hits such as Get It And Go, Rock ‘n’ Roll Lies and Los Angeles Waltz. The sombre emotional ballad Wire To Wire from their 2008 album Slipway Fires featured some really delicate guitar work from Borrell. Main set closer, Somewhere Else had the crowd jumping about, before the encore that included Don’t Go Back To Dalston and new song Good Night calmed the crowd down.
Closing the evening with their epic hit America to the cheers of the crowd who had certainly appreciated the return of the gifted musicians, and were sure that this time Razorlight aren’t going to be falling to pieces any time soon.