 Every
year the Forestry Commission put on a trio of
gigs across a weekend in June and July and this
year the likes of Little Mix, Suede, Rebecca Ferguson,
Boyzone, Deacon Blue and Katherine Jenkins have
all been booked up to play outdoor shows in the
stunning forest setting of Westonbirt Arboretum
and tonight I headed down to catch 90’s
Brit-pop sensations Suede who were supported by
Super Furry Animals front man Gruff Rhys.
 Tonight
was the perfect night for an outside concert as
the sun was rising high, the temperature was extremely
warm however when I arrived at the Arboretum I
was shocked at how empty the field was looking
but in typical fashion the people that did come
along to the show was a mature crowd who came
to make a day of it with their camping chairs
and picnics enjoying a good chit chat to their
friends whilst enjoying the sun as they wait for
the music to start.
 Main
support act Gruff Rhys took to the stage at 7.45pm
and played for 30minutes yet by the end of his
set it felt like he had been on stage for hours
as for the whole 30minutes he spent sat on a chair
playing his guitar, singing, playing with his
record player and holding a few huge signs up
which encouraged participation from the crowd
yet everything came across so samey and already
heard after 10minutes.
 When
Gruff Rhys started he got the crowd on his side
straight away by playing a song and then he suddenly
stopped singing yet his vocals were still coming
through the speakers and then we caught sight
of his record player as he got a new record out
to put on and he started making fun out of people
who get a career out of miming.
Through the set Gruff Rhys played ‘100 Unread
Messages’, ‘The Court Of King Arthur’,
‘Walk Into The Wilderness’, ‘American
Interior’ and a few others but by the end
of the set I was glad it was over and looking
around at the rest of  the
crowd it looked like they were as well, however
I really hope Gruff Rhys regroups with the Super
Furry Animals in the near future and returns to
what he shines at.
Back in 2013 Suede made a comeback and released
‘Bloodsports’ their sixth studio album
and first in eleven years the album was met with
rave reviews and saw it go straight in at number
10 in the UK album chart and since then Suede
have forever been on the road touring playing
sold out headline shows across the country as
well as heading out to perform at most mainstream
festivals.
 As
soon as Suede took to the stage at 9pm the crowd
all moved forward ready to see the brit-pop legends
perform in such a beautiful setting and within
minutes you forgot about how empty the field was
tonight and got lost in the music of Suede and
their energetic performance.
Neil Codling, Simon Gilbert, Richard Oakes and
Matt Osman all took the stage first and moments
later Brett Anderson walked on stage as they opened
with ‘Pantomime Horse’ and for the
majority of the song  Brett
Anderson stood pretty still but as soon as the
song finished and Suede went straight into ‘Killing
Of A Flashboy’ Brett Anderson leapt across
the stage like he was still in his early twenties
and this is one of the things which make Suede
such an entertaining band to watch on the live
circuit as if Brett wasn’t leaping across
the stage he was spinning his microphone stand
around and if he wasn’t doing that he was
spinning his microphone around by the wire which
is something he has obviously mastered over the
years as the manoeuvre has health and safety issue
written all over it yet no one was hurt in the
process.
 A
few songs into the set Brett Anderson spoke to
the crowd and told them to put their cheese and
pickle sandwiches down and come closer as there
were still a few people at the back spread out
enjoying the show from their comfort of their
camping chairs and then moments later Brett Anderson
took to the crowd to perform and this was the
first of many occasions that he got up close and
personal with his fans tonight.
Suede played through a collection of classic songs
tonight with the likes of ‘Trash’,
‘Animal Nitrate’, ‘We Are The
Pigs’, ‘Filmstar’, ‘The
Wild Ones’, ‘She’s In Fashion’,
‘Beautiful Ones’ and the one song
encore ‘Stay Together’ going down
very well with crowd tonight with the majority
of people getting involved and singing-a-long
word for word alongside Brett Anderson.
Overall Suede were on top form tonight and had
as much energy and if not more than when the first
started off in the 90’s the only downside
of the night was the lack of people at the gig
as it was a shame for the band to play to roughly
1000 people when the venue holds more like 4000
but it didn’t affect Suede as they rocked
like usual and after tonight’s performance
I personally can’t wait to see them on the
live circuit again.
Gruff Rhys 2/5
Suede 5/5
Review By Trigger
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