GIG REVIEW: New Model Army @ Roadmender, Northampton, Tuesday 27 February 2024
New Model Army released Unbroken, their 18th studio album, on 26 January. And it is no surprise to see the band on the road only one month later to promote this much-acclaimed work.
The first night of their Unbroken Tour (Part 1) kicked off at Northampton’s legendary Roadmender venue with support from Headsticks. The fact that this gig was the first of a year on tour, and the only one UK date until April , made this an extra special place to be. Add to that the prospect of seeing and hearing material from the new album for the first time made this a key calendar event for any ‘army’ fanatic.
So at 9.15pm prompt, the lights are dimmed to blood red, the atmospheric backing tape breathes life into the mighty warhorse backdrops (Joolz Denby artwork), the crowd is hushed – mesmerized by the sound and vision. And then, with a blinding flash of yellow light, Justin Sullivan bellows “Whichever way the wind comes blowing …..” as an opening refrain for Coming or Going (from Unbroken).
And we’re off, a gallop through 20 tracks from NMA’s 40-year repertoire which Sullivan estimates during the show to be around 280 tunes! Long Goodbye (from Strange Brotherhood), First Summer After and Language (both from Unbroken) complete the block of openers. Language seems especially meaningful in these troubled times with its chorus of “the language of love will bring us love, the language of war will bring us war”. Tonight this track was made even more poignant due to current political events concerning culture wars and actual wars. As if to make this point Sullivan adds extra emotional emphasis to the closing words: “We choose it. And. We. Own. It.”
The band take a moment, four songs in, and now the first chance to speak to the audience. Welcomes, appreciations and applause follow. And then, a touch of diplomacy from Sullivan: “Security. If people want to climb on top of each other, and if they fall on top of themselves, then that’s their own stupid fault ….. so let’s just go with that shall we?” Huge applause and much cheering follow! This is because NMA gigs are notorious for human pyramids, involving one person being supported aloft by others, facing the stage, lip-syncing and communicating lyrics to the band (and audience) by improvised sign-language; all while precariously balanced on the shoulders of others.
These totem-like structures have long added atmosphere to NMA gigs and to have over-zealous jobsworth security staff signal the pyramid people to ‘get down’ is like sucking the life, soul and oxygen out of a street-carnival! Massive respect to Sullivan for his on-stage mediating skills – which worked a treat as security staff immediately stopped spoiling the show with their policing of pyramids.
Now fully warmed up, the band canter through material from their back catalogue alongside yet more new material from Unbroken. Stand out tracks of the former included Purity (from Impurity), 225 and Green And Grey (both from Thunder And Consolation) and the metallic riffs on Angry Planet (from Between Water And Wine). But for me, it was the new material throughout the main set that stood on the shoulders of the band’s own back catalogue. This is probably because this material is so new and fresh – and that at least five Unbroken tracks were live debuts (Idumea, Reload, Deserters, Do You Really Want To Go There and Language). But this NMA line-up ‘owns’ this material too, it’s their current craft and it literally feels like a new distinctive sound (while maintaining the bass-percussion drive of the NMA canon). And by feeling the sound, I do mean feeling the sound, physically and emotionally.
Take Idumea for example. Two sets of drums create a tribal vibe, a distorted bass chord and minor keys that take you ‘down’ but are brought back up by spiritual backing harmonies that sound almost gospel/choral. This was the stand-out track tonight. The crowd was silenced, moved to swaying back and forth to the repetitive beats and the haunting backing track, with Sullivan playing bass as Ceri Monger transferred to percussion duties. That said, the three-track encore was an equally impressive close to the gig, featuring Where I Am (from From Here), Frightened (from No Rest) and Get Me Out (from Impurity).
The last five albums (Unbroken, Sinfonia, From Here, Winter and Between Dog And Wolf) have seen NMA go from strength to strength, with each receiving acclaim from critics, fanatics and followers alike. Each album reinvigorates and re-energises the one before, so their sound is constantly evolving while continuing to write about politics, relationships, reflection and the rhythms of life, love and seasonal change. With Unbroken, the band are at an all-time peak in their musical genius and with the Unbroken tour* they are riding on the backs of horses, delivering messages of peace and protest to all nations.
*Unbroken Part 1 takes in most of Europe until April 2024. A number of South American dates follow, with many international festival appearances throughout May-August 2024. Unbroken Part 2 resumes in November which (at present) seems to be mainly continental Europe.
