So you're super-connected now - all the freaks gather 'round

Was it really THIRTY years ago?!?

I've definitely got a soft spot for female-lead 90s indie groups, so when I saw one of the (imho) best of them was touring to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of an iconic release, I felt I had to pop along to The Electric Ballroom in Camden to see if it would be a triumphant reminiscence of youthful vigour (and I used that phrase advisedly) or an ominous reminder of distant times past.

Yes, it really is thirty years since Belly released their second album, King. Despite the Throwing Muses connection (Tanya is Kristin's step-sister and was originally in the group), I somehow didn't pick up on their stuff immediately until I was introduced to Sweet Ride, their '02 best-of. Which is a bit of a cheek given that they'd only released two albums, Star and King, at this point (and that was it until the '16 crowd-funded Dove) - but it's a very fine best-of, contrasting the rawness of the tracks on Star with the later polish of those on King. 

And the evening gives us the perfect opportunity to revisit this contrast with the band performing two sets. The first is a full run through of King, which informs me I don't know the album as well as I thought, but it was still great to catch up with "Seal My Fate", "Super Connected" and "Now They'll Sleep" in particular. The atmosphere in the crowd was most peculiar though - everyone was very quiet and it felt almost like a listening party where the band were presenting new material rather thana room full of people revisiting well known and loved tracks.

Things did pick up somewhat in the second set though, which was a collection of other tracks (but most of them were from Star) with "Spaceman", "Gepetto" and my absolute favourite "Slow Dog" going down well. The band did feed off a bit more attention but it all still felt relatively flat - there was a general sense of appreciation rather than adulation.

I think there was a combination of factors at play - the sound in the venue just felt a bit "off" (it was certainly better last time I was there) and the band are obviously 30 years older than they were back then and some of the songs were noticeably slower (and the audience are most definitely 30 years older as well). It was also the last night of the tour (eight consecutive nights covering the full length of the UK), so maybe they were just tired and wanted to go home.

It was a "fine" evening in a top venue and it was nice to hear the old songs again and also catch up with Mr and Mrs Billing, but sometimes you have to accept an evening just doesn't quite work out as you were hoping it would. Oh well, there's plenty more gigs coming up in the next two weeks to make up for it...