by Roy Scopazzi
Belle and Sebastian aren’t a nostalgia act, despite many things. For one, the Masonic isn’t shy with such acts, such as the Echo and the Bunnymen show I recently photographed a few weeks ago and the Tom Jones show in November. (Fetty Wap’s also playing there in November and his tour is literally called the Nostalgia Tour even though bro had like one song back in 2015 which isn’t even that long ago? But I digress). And it’s not that despite this show and the show the next day starting out with them performing all of one of their early albums, one for Tigermilk and the next day for If You’re Feeling Sinister.
This felt much more like a gentle memory of that album from back in 1996. Less for the crowd and more for the band itself as the show started off by playing a section of a documentary going over the creation of Tigermilk and how they were able to piece that album together despite being only mostly a band at the time. It and the quick descriptions gave context to every song played over the following fifty or so minutes. The projector added to that feeling, the main picture being what I assume is the recording studio from that album, but also pictures of their albums edited with song lyrics and even video games from the early to mid 90s.
The biggest difference is that a straight up nostalgia act feels like a bunch of people who just want to hear the hits and go home. This obviously isn’t the case for a good chunk of people at these shows and the people playing know that but there is absolutely a vibe. A good chunk of the reason I actually went to this concert was a friend who goes to see them nearly everywhere they go and asked me if I was going to photograph that particular show. The crowd in general fell in the same age range as them and me (around 30-45) and wasn’t holding onto the past but simply joining them in remembering earlier times and celebrating the present.
Beachwood Sparks played a light and breezy opening set as fitting for their name. Their country tinged sound fit the vibe of the show in general with enough difference to keep it interesting.
