ShareSuede performing their Autofiction Tour at Rock City Nottingham on Friday 10th March 2023.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
With snow and near freezing temperatures outside, there was an undoubted heat wave inside Rock City on Friday night when Suede delivered an eighteen song set list to a packed crowd.
Touring to promote their latest album, Autofiction, front man Brett Anderson sweated, screamed and shouted his way through a stunning collection of new songs, as well as showcasing some of their former hits.
A decade ago they came back from a ten year hiatus so many would have expected the five piece to just enjoy rattling out the hits and reliving their glory days. But Suede were still as good as it gets, in fact from this crowd’s reaction, they were better than ever.
Opening with new song Turn Off Your Brain And Yell, Personality Disorder, one of their strongest compositions in years, saw Anderson match its energy by leaping on to the monitors, encouraging the audience to clap and sing along.
Delivering a refined set list that also included many of their best works; the very tight band showed boundless energy throughout the likes of The Drowners, Animal Nitrate and their highest charting single, Trash, which got the room bouncing.
The Only Way I Can Love You saw Anderson standing on the barrier leaning into the crowd and the euphoric She Still Leads Me On was his anthemic heartfelt tribute to his mother which had everyone singing along.
A real highlight was when Anderson sat down with an acoustic guitar whilst the rest of the band took a break. Sweating and panting he played a delicate version of The Wild Ones which had everyone hanging on his every word.
Bringing the main set to a close he leapt his way through the crowd, sweat brow dripping for So Young from their debut album but he was back prowling the stage for Metal Mickey. With an encore of an extended Beautiful Ones, Suede had taken Rock City by storm and proved that they are so much more than a nostalgia trip.