New Model Army

There are few bands that I have grown up with that still command my humble respect. Justin Sullivan and New Model Army are without doubt, one of them. Since the early eighties they’ve sung their songs of passion and justice, 'celebrated in a ritual of swirling smoke with arms raised up to the lights,' I’ve found my convictions echoed in their lyrics, and found my spirit roused through the music. They’ve grown and changed, band members have sadly gone and others have come. Yet, I still marvel that they soldier on with the same strength and integrity, much unnoticed and relatively unlauded by the majority, but for the faithful community that have followed them through the changing years.

'High', their tenth studio album, was released back in the summer, and served to be the focus of the gig. For me, it’s their strongest album for a while. Any new material has to be worth its weight to compete with such a strong back catalogue and the majority of the eight or so songs that the band chose from the latest album to play tonight stood tall and proud. With such a strong back catalogue I guess it’s hard knowing what to choose to please the crowd, and Sullivan acknowledged this. There were murmurings for this or for that, but the two-hour, 20 song set didn’t disappoint.

As always, NMA remain underpinned by a driving rhythm section. The relatively recent arrival of Michael Gill on guitar adds a harder rocky edge to the sound as a whole. The 'folky’ elements of harmonica or fiddle on 'Poison Street' and 'Vagabonds' were replaced with lead guitar, and it worked great, lending to an adrenalin fuelled set. A couple of encores and I was glad that they included amongst them 'No Rest' which is fantastic (great bass line!) And how better to finish the night and ease the atmosphere than to end with 'Green and Grey' which still tugs at the heart.

Standing amongst fellow NMA devotees, with my own arms raised and united in song, sharing my own 'sacred moments' with friends, it’s easy to loose objectivity and simply say the gig was brilliant. Five stars! What more could I want than to be singing my heart and lungs out to songs that I actually believe in? But I guess Justin and the boys would be more analytical and critical of their performance tonight. After all, they’re the professionals making a living out of this. But where I was standing I honestly didn’t find too much to be critical about! (Except, maybe, squeeze in a couple off 'Vengeance' next time. Oh, go on, it’s Christmas.)