How I met Suede.
Every time I go to UML (Union Music Library), I choose three random records to listen to in my room on Wednesday afternoons. One of the three records was Suede’s “Dog Man Star”. Such a 90s album, so Britpop and so deep. It’s something to listen to seriously and without interruption. I only needed to listen to the album once to buy a ticket to a gig that coincidentally was happening in Leeds next Tuesday.
The gig was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the “Coming Up” record. Probably one of the best albums of the 90s. We showed up just 5 minutes before the start of Suede’s performance. You could tell people had been waiting for this gig – a whole year!
Suede started with ‘Trash’, the first song on the album and went in order of the album. People were enjoying themselves, I even saw someone shedding tears. I think the songs reminded them of their early 20s. I was in the front centre so people were really happy to see Brett Anderson swinging the microphone across the whole stage.
I decided to get some fresh air and almost missed ‘Saturday Night’! I couldn’t go back to the front but I hope Brett heard me screaming “oh whatever makes her happy on a Saturday night”. The visuals at the gig were incredible; you couldn’t stop looking at the screen.
It was a truly incredible gig and the encore, ‘Life is Golden’, was a very special moment to share with the band. The song is from their 2018 album ‘The Blue Hour’, which definitely deserves a listen. It’s beautiful, nostalgic, it’s so undeniably Suede.
I thought I would make a playlist, a sort of introduction to Suede for those who, like me, were asleep. Mostly the songs from the gig that, if you have a chance, you should see live because you will fall in love with their music and energy even more.
So here we go. An album-length Suede playlist:
- Chemistry Between Us (Coming Up)
- So Young (Suede)
- Beautiful Ones (Suede)
- Saturday Night (Coming Up)
- Animal Nitrate (Suede)
- By the Sea (Coming Up)
- The Asphalt World (Dog Man Star)
- We are the pigs (Dog Man Star)
- Filmstar (Coming Up)
- Life is Golden (The Blue Hour)
Words by: Madina Latipova
Edited by: Laura Murphy