Concorde 2 was rammed tonight but that’s not surprising, as it’s hard to find a band with a more dedicated following than the New Model Army. In fact their die-hard fans are commonly known as The Family or The Militia because of their closeness and dedication. 35 years later and their family seems as strong as ever. There are many reasons for this dedication, their unique blend of rock, punk and goth music that hits the spot for many followers of those genres is one. Another is their far left wing and no holds barred lyrics along with their refusal to play by the normal rules.

One of those rules they break is they don’t play their ‘best of’ set rammed full of the hit singles. Instead the vast majority of the music tonight was taken from their latest album Winter. They opened with ‘Burn The Castle’, a call to arms track about fighting the same old, same old by burning down the castles of the elite. It was these sort of lyrics that originally got them banned from touring America as their visas were refused stating the band had “no artistic merit”. This did not stop them, eventually they were allowed to tour there and they have not let up with the controversial anti-establishment songs.

This was followed by ‘White Light’ from The Love of Hopeless Causes album and then mostly new songs with a scattering of older songs. If you know the New Model Army hits and albums from the 80s then you may well leave the concert listing the songs they did not play and it was a shame not to hear a lot of them. Though the newer songs hold up well against the old songs and they don’t seem to have lost any of their edge. Considering a lot of the songs are about living now in this time I guess it seems more logical to play the songs that are still relevant rather than the ones about fighting old battles.

It was a high intensity show with only brief breathing space and light banter. It got a bit comical at the end with the double encore, the first including the classics ‘Vagabonds’ and ‘Poison Street’ along with ‘Between Dog and Wolf’ then back onstage for the final, slightly more optimistic song ‘I Love The World’. I can’t believe that I’ve not seen this band till now but after experiencing it once I’d definitely come back for more. I guess that’s how their family grows.
Jonski Mason.

Website: newmodelarmy.org
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