Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see The Divine Comedy's sold out, rescheduled, 30th anniversary performance of the albums "Fin de Siècle " and "Regeneration" played in their entirety at the Barbican Hall in London's glitzy Barbican Centre.
We loved it. Great songs, great performance, great lighting.
"Fin De Siècle" (1998) and "Regeneration" (2001) were both recorded at the height of The Divine Comedy's fame. "Fin De Siècle" was Neil Hannon saying, “But I’m an artist!” and directing things in strange and wonderful directions. Of the album he says, "There’s crazy stuff like ‘Eric The Gardener’ but also ‘National Express’ and ‘Generation Sex’ – our biggest hits."
And then, "But by the end of the ‘90s, the scene had changed. Nobody wanted a man flouncing around with an orchestra behind them. So, after the mania of Britpop, in a massive attempt to not go down with the ship, I made Regeneration, which was more serious with more guitars. It was me, famed producer Nigel Godrich and my excellent band on an equal footing. Call me an egomaniac, but I felt disconnected and I wanted more fun."
Setlist
Recomposed - The Four Seasons: Spring (Max Richter song)
Spiando del Bagno (Nino Rota song)
Fin de Siècle
Generation Sex
Thrillseeker
Commuter Love
Sweden
Eric the Gardener
National Express
Life on Earth
The Certainty of Chance
Here Comes the Flood
Sunrise
Regeneration
Timestretched
Bad Ambassador
Perfect Lovesong
Note to Self
Lost Property (with band introductions)
Eye of the Needle
Love What You Do
Dumb It Down
Mastermind
Regeneration
The Beauty Regime
Encore:
When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe
Tonight We Fly
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