ShareThe Zutons performing at Rock City Nottingham on Monday 7th April 2025.
Review by Kevin Cooper
The Zutons, a Liverpudlian indie band that formed in 2002, separated in 2009, but reformed in 2018 were at Rock City on Monday night, to celebrate the release of their fourth studio album in sixteen years, The Big Decider. Produced by Nile Rodgers and Ian Broudie the band showcased six new songs which went down a storm.
Taking to the stage, front man Dave McCabe, saxophonist Abi Harding and keyboard player Neil Bradley launched into Zuton Fever from their Mercury nominated debut album, Who Killed…The Zutons? with its glorious guitar jangling melodies which set the tone for the night.
The band drew mostly from that brilliant album, with the crowd singing along to every word of the timeless singles like Dirty Dancehall and Pressure Point. With Abi Harding’s saxophone skills being rightly front and centre of their sound, their signature moments of Why Won’t You Give Me Your Love? and Remember Me also showcased her excellent vocals.
New songs like Pauline and Disappear seemed to take the crowd on a nostalgic trip, such was their familiarity, and recent single Creeping On The Dancefloor had them pulsating to its guitar pop melodies and was as good as any vintage Zuton’s tune from the early 2000’s with its soul laden grooves powering the whole song along.
There was a fabulous cover of Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black, and arguably the best version of Valerie which was taken to stratospheric levels by Mark Ronson and Winehouse. The set closed with the indie classic You Will You Won’t, another crowd pleaser that really hit home, and remains one of the best tunes that they have ever written. Having enthused their brilliant vibrant indie guitar tunes with a hefty dose of soulful blues they ended the night with Zuton Fever Reprise which was a fitting finale to a show that was a triumphant return for one of the UK’s finest guitar bands.
