Elbow

Elbow and Doves have been bosom buddies since they both emerged from the Manchester Indie scene back in the late 90's, so it's not surprising to see Jimi Goodwin (Doves frontman) in the support slot for tonight's gig.

Jimi gives us a smattering of songs from his great solo album Odludek including uplifting single Oh Whiskey. We also get a couple of Doves songs in here too including The Last Broadcast. All accompanied by some good banter from the lead Dove, who's been here before a few years ago when Doves hosted their own sell out Eden Session.

Where a band such as Arctic Monkeys may have launched themselves into indie stardom like a missile, Elbow have been more of a slow burner, building quietly into a roaring furnace over recent years, and producing some classic anthems that have become part of our modern British musical culture.

Tonight they pull off a superb all round performance. The band are faultless in their delivery of their whistfully thought provoking music. They kick off the evening with Charge from latest album The Take Off And Landing Of Everything. Bones Of You is up next, and it gets a massive cheer. In fact, all the songs they play off Seldom Seen Kid tonight, unsurprisingly get the warmest reception. It's a classic album that despite their consistent quality of songwriting , has been hard to beat, and the crowd sing along hanging off Garvey's every word.

Guy Garvey is a natural frontman. His razor sharp wit and self deprecating humour complement the performance tonight and endear the band to the audience. These are guys who don't seem to have been bulldozed along by the fame train and still seem just really happy to be making a living from doing what they do best, giving us their music. Having said that, Guy takes great pleasure in organising a superb Mexican Wave which flows from the security guards all through the crowd and back again.

We get a set that spans all five of Elbow's studio albums, including a treat from their debut long player Asleep In The Back, the beautifully moving Scattered Black And Whites. Towards the end of the main set it's Grounds For Divorce that gets the biggest reaction and we all get swept along with it towards the oh so satisfying big air guitar riff which just has to be played along with.

I think everyone who walked into this unique setting tonight would have expected Elbow to finish off the set with their anthem, One Day Like This, and of course they do. It's the feelgood finish we all wanted , and the band and the crowd throw their collective curtains wide in the biggest singalong of this years Eden Sessions.

Setlist

Charge
The Bones of You
Fly Boy Blue / Lunette
Real Life (Angel)
The Night Will Always Win
New York Morning
The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
Great Expectations
Scattered Black and Whites
Mirrorball
The Birds
Grounds for Divorce
My Sad Captains

Lippy Kids
One Day Like This