Heritage Live 2024: Suede

Heritage Live:

After taking over Englefield Estate earlier in June, it is now the turn of Audley End to host the Heritage Live concert series. This weekend sees a number of music's biggest and best names take to the grounds of this stately home, to put on huge concerts. This year's line-up includes headliners Madness, Richard Ashcroft, and Elbow; but before them it was the turn of Thursday night headliners' Suede to start the weekend off. The britpop icons were joined on the bill by special guests Johnny Marr and Nadine Shah. Nadine Shah started the evening off with her unique blend of jazz-influenced indie rock, which had all in attendance up on their feet. The legendary Johnny Marr followed, delivering a set which perfectly blended his masterful solo work with the classics of The Smiths, and even had time to play a few special covers. It was then time for our headline act...

Suede:

The insatiable ones started their set off with an extended introduction to 'Turn Off Your Brain and Yell'. The quartet of Mat Osman, Simon
Gilbert, Richard Oakes and Neil Codling took to the stage first, gradually building into the song, slowly increasing the tension across the estate. When lead singer Brett Anderson eventually took to the stage, the build-up had reached its pinnacle the audience let out huge screams and the night was well and truly ready to start. The only issue with a night this good is once it starts, you never want it to end.

Suede compiled the perfect setlist for the night, with offerings from all eras of their back catalogue. Iconic songs like 'Animal Nitrate' 'Trash', and 'Saturday Night' were screamed back in full voice by all in attendance. Meanwhile a handful of tracks from the bands most recent record 'Autofiction' also went down a treat, with songs like 'She Still Leads Me On' and Shadow Self getting reactions on a level with the hits of yester year. This, if nothing, is testament to just how incredible autofiction was as an album.

The musicality from everyone on stage was out in full force, with every note being played as if their life depends on it. This was five men who went out with a mission to leave everything they have on that stage, which they did, and then some. Between the blistering anthems
Anderson took moments to let his natural dry- wit take over, even poking fun at himself when jokes about mythology seemed lost. Before the band showcase their unreleased song 'Antidepressants', Anderson took to the mic telling the crowd "I know what you want. You don't want to hear all these old songs; you want to hear a new one". This comment was of course tongue-in-cheek, but given how good 'Antidepressants' was, I could have happily spent the entire night listening to new songs.

By the time set closer 'New Generation' had stopped ringing out, the band received a deservedly rapturous applause, ending a night which may be Heritage Live's greatest ever. This was Suede's last European date of the year and may well close the European chapter of the Autofiction era. If so, there could not be a more fitting send-off to an album which showcases exactly why Suede are still on top