Slowdive – Powerstation: July 26, 2023 (Concert Review)

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SLOWDIVE are originally from Reading (the home of that famous festival) formed in 1989 by Neil Halstead (vocals/Guitars/Keyboards) and Rachel Goswell (vocals/Guitars/Keyboards) with Christian Savill (Guitar) Nick Chaplin (Bass) and Adrian Sell (Drums), a lineup that has stayed pretty steady through the years unless you were the drummer, currently, Simon Scott handles the skins and has done so for a considerable number of years (he also plays guitar and keyboards).

SlowdiveSLOWDIVE were associated (mainly by the UK media) with the burgeoning shoegaze scene (think My Bloody Valentine, Lush and Ride amongst others) which, just as the ‘scene’ was hitting its stride in the early 1990s, was hit a double whammy by Grunge from the US and Britpop from the UK, and got sidelined, which saw many of the bands and musician break up and/or head in different musical directions, SLOWDIVE ended up as Mojave 3, a dreamy alt-country band.

Early on, a slew of EPs on Creation Records caught the media’s attention, and success was looming, excepting the media’s gaze suddenly lurched towards Britpop and Grunge, and while 1991’s Just For A Day did chart well in the UK indie chart and gain attention in the USA, the release of the Brian Eno ‘involved’ second album Souvlaki in 1993 was hit hard by the scene change and was poorly received. 1995’s Neil Halstead also dominated Pygmalion while better received, but wasn’t enough to reenergize the band and dissolution came upon them. As is always in history, years later Souvlaki was finally recognised as a masterpiece of the shoegaze genre.

In 2014 the band reformed for a worldwide tour and continued, 2017 saw SLOWDIVE release a self-titled comeback album that was applauded by critics (Grunge and Britpop by this time also victims of their success) Tamaki Makaurau saw a visit in 2018 as part of Laneways, and now in 2023 they’ve returned, and have just released several digital singles from a forthcoming album Everything is Alive

Nadia Reid

Nadia ReidEx Tamaki Makaurau, but raised to be a Ōtepoti/Dunedin icon, Nadia Reid is an interesting choice as opener, but not unfathomable if you (actually) listen to SLOWDIVE. Described by The Guardian as an assured, clever and confident singer-songwriter and she has her fourth studio album looming. Opening for SLOWDIVE is described by her as ‘my dream’ on her Facebook page.

Punctually Nadia slipped onto the stage with little fuss, dressed in black and began on keyboards stage-right, opposite the steel guitar set-up stage-right. I was expecting a solo show tonight, it’s a delight as through her 30-minute set she alternates between keyboard and acoustic guitar and is joined firstly by Sam Taylor alternating between keys and electric guitar and subsequently Tom Healy, alternating between steel guitar and keyboards. 

The audience is genuinely appreciative as Nadia Reid’s rich and powerful voice fills the rapidly filling room, the combination of instruments, and the alternating between them fills the trios sound out subtly. As said earlier, Nadia Reid’s Americana-style folk may have seemed an oddish choice for an opening act, but once on stage her sparse and gentle banter about t-shirts under the house and getting a free ticket to SLOWDIVE, and the music itself, in their own way create an almost complimenting version of shoegazing. 

Playing a selection of songs from her three albums, and I suspect at least one taster from her looming fourth LP, Best Things from her 2020 album Out Of My Province jumped out as a highlight, though her last song, as Nadia Reid freely admitted, was a suitably depressing, yet sublime use of vocals, keyboards and steel-guitar to build up the teeming room in anticipation.


SLOWDIVE

As the technical crew checked and rechecked instruments on a suitably darkened stage, we awaited the sound of Brian Eno as the precursor to the beginning, then with much adoration from the tightly packed crowd, the band were welcomed to the stage. Starting Slowdivewith Slomo from their 2017 Self-Titled album and then following it succinctly with their namesake song Slowdive from the 1992 EP sets the scene for a juxtaposed show tonight, while many have come on the basis of notoriety: 1993’s Souvlaki it is rapidly clear that tonight is not a retro event.

Onstage the band, original members all, now five-score plus, are visually at odds. Rachel Goswell looks suitably post-gothic dressed all in black with dual black and white coloured hair, while Neil Halstead (and the rest of the band) look like they could be from the cast of the TV programme American Pickers, a show I love so much. The lighting show is spectacular, light beams create a visual undertow, complimenting the ethereal sounds being created onstage. Surprisingly, the full-house crowd is a mess. Expecting a room of fifty-somethings, there is a mass of young folk, many embellished-gothics, coupled and even two giants (tall as fuck) looking like they are nouveau-vampire extras are from the set of Underworld, SLOWDIVE’s appeal 30 years on still has inter-generational appeal it seems.

As prowling Nick Chaplin (Bass) and emphatic Simon Scott (Drums) created a magnificent drum-n-bass undertow that underpinned the performance, artisan axemen Christian Savill and Neil Halstead carefully crafted guitar manipulations that dance over above like gothic architecture, both are complemented by Rachel Goswell’s own guitar and keyboards contribution. And in the hands of the bands’ skilled mixer, the sound was clear and the created atmosphere enveloped the crowd, balancing out Rachel Goswell’s ‘deep in the song’s vocal delivery’ 

Throughout the show there was little empty space, the show felt fluid, endless, and enveloping, no mosh pit tonight, the crowd was respectful of each other and the band. There was very little memorable interaction with the audience by the band, bar thanks for warming the room up on a bloody cold evening and the odd thanks. it seems the music is the narrative focus tonight.

Slowdive

There were plenty of songs from Slouvaki; Alison, (an astounding version of) Souvlaki Space Station, which are audience pleasers, interspersed between selections from former and post-Slouvaki material. Sleep, a song by Christian Savill’s pre-SLOWDIVE band Eternal and a cover of Syd Barrett’s Golden Hair that brought things to a tumultuous ending… before the encore ritual.

The ending, like the vibe through the night – speaks of duality. Both compositions are from Slouvaki: Dagger stripped back to an acoustic delivery, and another fan favourite, 40 Days, that brought the night to a close as the crowd streamed out into the cold with ringing in their ears.

Simon Coffey

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Ivan Karczewski:

Slowdive:

Nadia Reid:

Slowdive Setlist:
Slomo
Slowdive
Avalyn
Catch the Breeze
Star Roving
Souvlaki Space Station
Crazy for You
Sleep
Sugar for the Pill
Alison
When the Sun Hits
Kisses
Golden Hair

Encore:
Dagger
40 Days
Simon Coffey
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