The Enemy at Brixton Academy

When The Enemy released Away From Here, the ground was fertile for new guitar bands. Little did we know, we were entering the dawn of a golden era of British music. This three-piece from Coventry emerged as the working-class response to the success of Arctic Monkeys, who were, at the time, the hottest new band in the country. Fast forward 17 years and here we are at Brixton Academy, taking a trip down memory lane as Tom Clarke takes the stage, wielding his trademark Fender Stratocaster. He launches into Aggro, the opening track from their number one charting debut We Live and Die in These Towns, which will be played in its entirety tonight. The nostalgic aura of the show is palpable among a crowd that has aged alongside the band. Mostly in their early 20s at the time of the album’s release, they now revel in the joy of reliving their youth.

Following a tracklist faithfully can be a double-edged sword; many hits come too early, with Away from Here, Hard Enough and the title track played in the space of 15 minutes. It’s curious how lyrics resonate more deeply depending on the context – like a song named after a city being played there, or, as in this case, the line “Saturday is your only highlight / When you go out and live the high life” being sung on a Saturday night.

By the sixth song, we’ve already moved on to You’re Not Alone, one of The Enemy’s more heartfelt works. Yet, the true highlight is This Song Is About You, when the entire Academy unites as a single voice – the band and the crowd becoming one.

Now liberated from the constraints of adhering strictly to their album’s tracklist, the indie rockers continue with their 2009 single Be Somebody. Clarke’s singing grows increasingly reminiscent of Paul Weller, who, incidentally, is also performing tonight in town. Shall we call it malice?

There’s another timely nod to this evening as The Enemy burst into Saturday from their 2012 record Streets in the Sky. The influences of the band have always been in plain sight: The Jam, The Stone Roses and Oasis. The 90s Brit rock vibe is stronger than ever on No Time for Tears from their sophomore album Music for the People.

This joyful night concludes with a reprise of This Song Is About You, as frontman Clarke invites the fans to unleash “carnage and utter chaos”. The band goes hard on the instrumental melody of what is normally a ballad, transforming the song into a riotous finale.

Before The Enemy took the stage, The Subways opened the show in a sort of indie nostalgia double bill, mesmerising the Academy with noughties classics such as With You and Rock & Roll Queen. Recently, the two bands collaborated with the charity Shelter by donating the profits from a double-sided single where each artist covers one of the other’s most famous songs – namely Rock & Roll Queen and We Live and Die in These Towns.

Filippo L’Astorina, the Editor

For further information and future events visit The Enemy’s website here.

Watch the video for Away from Here here: