Primal Scream

Bobby Gillespie and co may have been slightly worried that some punters would choose to stay away from their recent headline show following recent reports that the band had ‘excluded’ Martin Duffy before his death. According to the former keyboardist’s son at an inquest, his father was ‘not able to cope’ after being excluded from tour and rights deal and was dishonestly abandoned at a time when he needed support.

But any fears of a half empty field were put to bed early on as a huge crowd emerged for main support Jesus & the Mary Chain. The fellow Scots, who count Gillespie as an ex-member, are a polished live outfit these days with their dark, melodic brand of alternative rock transferring perfectly to a sun setting field in South London. The likes of ‘Just Like Honey’ and ‘Reverence ’ drew the biggest reactions and set the inebriated crowd up perfectly for their fellow Scots.

Fresh from their Screamdelica anniversary tours last year, Primal Scream chose a career-spanning set for what was an emotionally charged, tight performance from a band backed up perfectly by a five-piece gospel choir throughout.

‘We’re going to open with a gospel song’ proclaimed Gillespie as the alternate rockers began with ‘Movin’ On Up’, a song written as an anthem to overcoming the storm of life and to give hope when struggling. It put the now full to the brim audience in a positive mood and set the standard from the offset.

An obscure collection from throughout their career then followed including ‘Suicide Bomb’ from ‘Beautiful Future’ and ‘More Light’s ‘It's Alright, It's OK’. There were no huge hits or sing-a-longs to count on for this mid-period, but the Friday night south London crowd were hooked and hung onto every chord.

The Glaswegians undoubtably hit their peak for the final leg with a final five song set that could compete with the best. ‘Come Together’ arguably their best live song, was cathartic, emotional and sensitive in equal measure as seemingly every person sang in unison with the gospel choir as the sun went down.

Old favourite ‘Jailbird’ from 94 LP ‘Give Out But Don't Give Up’ then pumped up the BPM before ‘Loaded’ made its appearance in a reduced form compared to the elongated version they had been playing for the Screamadelica tour. The two biggest sing-a-longs of the night then closed proceeding with ‘Country Girl’ and ‘Rocks’ confirming that Primal Scream really do have a fantastic, varied selection of compositions to choose from, with each one sounding more diverse from the last.