Opening the same way they opened their incredible 2000 album Xtrmntr with 'Kill All Hippies', they sent the crowd wild as soon as the first words of the voice clip were heard. The montage of slogans and adverts only enhanced the intensity of the spacey guitars and pounding drums while Bobby sings "you got the money, I got the soul" in his best falsetto.
After this, they launched into recent single 'Can't Go Back'. This set the perfect atmosphere with its shoutalong chorus and the buildup before Bobby's shout of "Let's Go" to introduce Andrew Innes' guitar solo. Although this was the best of the 'Beautiful Future' tracks played tonight, the set was consistently amazing, with almost every song just being completely perfect. Average album track 'Suicide Bomb' becomes a great bluesy stomp with an MBV-style sonic onslaught while the breezy title track with its claps and "oohhhhh"s makes for great fun. Like all the great frontmen, Gillespie puts on an amazing display with his onstage actions while still maintaining an aura of effortless cool. His animal noises at the beginning of soul number 'Uptown', which he dedicated to "all the ladies in the house", was something to behold.
As with all Primal Scream gigs of late, the setlist is pretty much equally balanced with rock'n'roll tracks from such albums as 'Riot City Blues' [although some feel superflous when the setlist includes relatively pointless 2005 track 'Suicide Sally and Johny Guitar' but doesn't feature the classic 'Kowalski'] and the more intense, electronic tracks. The songs from 'Evil Heat' are particularly impressive with 'Miss Lucifer' being an early highlight. However the last 4 songs of the main set saw the gig turn from the spectacular to the legendary.
When Bobby Gillespie announced the arrival of My Bloody Valentine guitarist, the legendary Kevin Shields, the fans were audibly ecstatic. The biggest highlight of the set was the ensuing 'Shoot Speed/Kill Light' with the a lot of the crowd screaming those 4 words along with Bobby while Shields brought added distortion and the wall of sound MBV gigs are famed for. After this sirens signified the classic hardcore techno track 'Swastika Eyes', which was similarly incredible. Innes, Shields and new band member Barrie Cadogan (of Little Barrie fame) attached their capos for the night's main singalong, 1993 hit 'Movin' on Up' which was followed by the euphoric set-closer 'Rocks', which had similar singing and clapping appeal.
Having left the stage, they returned for an encore initially without Shields but maintained the air of awe at the music being produced in the crowd with an immense version of 'Higher Than The Sun' accompanied by a looped video clip of chaos in the streets to really reinforce the brooding but chilled tone of the song. After this came a raucous version of 'Necro Hex Blues' off the most recent album which, although sadly lacking Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age who featured on the album version (Innes played the solo with similar power however) still managed to stir up the crowd despite being relatively unknown.
As the night drew to a close, they brought out their most commercially successful song, 'Country Girl' which prompted another mass singalong but what was to follow would be the night's most memorable. As Kevin Shields returned to the stage he amped up his trademark distortion as the band launched into the classic 'Accelerator' which while sending the crowd wild still managed to send them into a state of shock and awe by the song's close, the band leaving the stage with the awesome laser show still on and some very loud feedback still ringing all through the Apollo for several minutes and in our ears for several hours. An incredible way to end such an incredible night.
This was probably the best gig I've ever been to. I was so in awe at the great (as previously said, 'Kowalski' would have completed it) set of songs, stunning lights and lasers show and just the atmosphere. Seeing my favourite band meant a lot and when they play such amazing music having been in the business for over 20 years, it's hard not to treat such a gig with such a reaction. The addition of watching the return of a legend only made the experience even more awesome. The Scream are a force to be reckoned with and when they can pack so many hits into one night and put on such a show to go with them, it is evident that they are one of the best live bands in the world.
