The Domestic Terrorist - Suede At The ICA September 2003

SUEDE : LONDON ICA : SEPTEMBER 22-27th 2003

First things first.

Suede. 22 September 2003
Dog Man Star. 23 September 2003
Coming Up. 25 September 2003
Head Music. 26 September 2003
ALSO
ICA Gig Photos
ICA Exhibition Photos

I�ve never heard of any other band that�s got the balls to try this. To take every album they�ve ever released, and play them in their entirety. Let alone to play five different albums, with encores of the b-sides, in a row. In one of the smallest venues in London. To just 350 fans a night.

Sounds like the type of thing a struggling band might do ; to try and build back some faith with it�s fans, to cram in some punters because their other gigs aren�t selling out.

Not Suede. Sure, in the UK they�re not quite as big as they once were � but then again, nobody�s as big as they used to be. Not even U2 or REM play stadiums anymore.

So this. This is the Holy Grail of Suede gigs. Well, these five nights. If you asked a Suede fan (any of them really) what they really really want, I�m sure it�d be something along these lines. Five nights of Suede playing almost every song they�ve ever done, in a tiny club.

The ICA has become a Suede Shrine. The shop has been transformed into a veritable goldmine of obscure Suede stuff : deleted 12�s, minidisks, DVD�s, fanclub videos, mags, posters, books, videos, tour programmes, t-shirts. Everything but the infamous GAYANIMALSEX T-Shirt ; you got it.

Though one enterprising punter with a big camera and a photo pass is wearing a t-shirt that says GAYPHOTOGRAPHERSEX. Cool. Even those with special passes are fans. Yowsa.

That�s how hardcore this gets. If you get a Suede fan gets any closer to achieving their ambitions, it�s probably being asked to join the band.

So this is it. Not for the vague fans, this. Not for those who didn�t buy those records, clutch them to their souls, and know that these songs changed � or saved � lives. Know not only the songs, but every last twist, every last lick, every last line about sixteen hole boots and flying bicycles. Know that when Richard plays �To The Birds� he always cocks his head to the left, leans forward, closes his eyes, and shakes his head like he�s being electrocuted. Who know that whenever they play the verse to �New Generation� Richard stomps his right foot in time with a guitar part you can�t even hear when they play it live and is buried in the mix of the studio version. Or that Matt always looks to the left and wiggles his sexyass hips when they play �Attitude.�

These are the type of people you�ll get tonight. Apart from the handful of ICA members who stand blankly in the midst of this history and wonder quite what the big deal. Apart from the handful of Ebay wankers who buy tickets off the net for over a grand.

Trust me. Not even a band is worth that much. But this band is beyond a price : seeing Suede is priceless. It�s like watching a great work of art, living and breathing in front of your very eyes. Even if occasionally they wear big sunglasses because they�ve taken too many drugs. But not tonight.

With gigs like this you don�t need drugs. Higher than the sun.

It�s music like this : sexy, brash, slinky, and super fucking intelligent, that makes life worthwhile.

It�s music like this that makes you feel as if they�ve taken your every thought � even the ones you�re too scared to think � right out of your head and put straight onto hot, raw vinyl.

It�s music like this that makes me feel so much more than alone, so much less awful sometimes. When she�s gone. When the darkness falls. When the world seems small and sex turns cruel. They know. Through their cocaine nights and rock star days they know that to feel joy, one must also feel the pain.

Sometimes it�s odd that such a little thing as a song can change your world. But trust me. Without �The Next Life�, I don�t know if I�d be here.

And on a rainy Monday, come the songs that saved my life.

A suburban bedroom. With days too long and wallets too small. With cramped rooms and hated neighbours. With immature, vague sex and empty promises. With ambition too big for a world so limited. Where sometimes all I want is something as big as an extra five pounds.

That�s the world I lived in when the first Suede album came out. Even then, I knew there was more to life than what it offered me then.

I knew that beauty was only the drop of a needle away.

And onto the first night

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