Live – Suede at Brighton Dome – Breaking Glass Magazine

Suede at Brighton Dome, 20th March 2023

Since the release of their eponymously titled debut album in the early 90s, Suede have always run outside the pack, try to lump them in with the Britpop crew if you will but they’ve always been more than that. With a string of classic albums to pick from, choosing the setlists for their current UK tour can’t have been an easy task, but the inclusion of latest album Autofiction only adds to the mix and there is truly something here for everyone. To be fair, judging by the crowd reaction and singalongs, everything was for everyone – not quite a homecoming show but as near to Haywards Heath as you’ll get with a big enough venue, the welcome at Brighton Dome was justifiably warm.

There are few bands who could hold the audience captive with 30 year old B-sides and new album tracks, but from openers Turn Off Your Brain And Yell and Personality Disorder, the whole venue was enthralled, and the inclusion of The Living Dead received a great response.

No worries for those searching out the hits though as Animal Nitrate, Trash, We Are The Pigs and So Young amongst others all featured, Brett Anderson as at home singing his way through the crowd and strutting across the balcony as on stage. And as a whole, the band couldn’t complement each other more, a unit so established that the production and performance is seamless.

It’s obvious that Suede love playing live and Brett’s intro to an acoustic The Wild Ones reminded everyone of why we go to gigs rather than just listen to music at home – it absolutely is a shared experience that can’t be replicated, and brings memories that can’t be recreated.

Returning to the stage to close their set with The Beautiful Ones, there was a sense that the crowd would have been happy to stay and listen to Suede play all night. Still, there was some solace to be found in knowing that we’d spent the evening at a phenomenal performance by a band at their best, and clearly still with so much more to give.