There’s a sense – somewhat sad to consider in depth – of appropriateness and relevance to The Levellers still having the gravity to pack out venues the size of Manchester Academy in this day and age. After all, this was a band formed in the deep-rooted inequality and social division that occurred at the end of the 1980s – a band speaking loudly about the people, for the people. Skip forward 26 years and the truths are the same: the margins of society blamed for the rot at the core, the man at the back needing a voice, the caustic bite of injustice. If there’s an inherent sorrow to The Levellers continuing to reflect this back as a mirror to society, it doesn’t show tonight. Frankly, they’re as good as I’ve ever witnessed them. From the moment that the opening double-punch of ‘Beautiful Day’ and ’15 Years’ strike through the crowd, the band immediately ease into a comfortably high gear which doesn’t ease up throughout the whole of tonight’s display.
Unfairly maligned by some as a “hippy band”, the truth upon witnessing The Levellers circa 2014 is to acknowledge quite how far their musical tendrils have spread. The stripped and sorrowful beauty of ‘Julie’ rubs shoulders with the pulsing, dance-tinged grooves of ‘Exodus’; while the anthemic and towering ‘Hope St’ is immediately followed by the traditional Celtic sounds of ‘Truth Is’ from their latest record Static on the Airwaves. They reach across the years and styles with panache and ease but distil, collate and synthesise in a way that is utterly their own.
It’s equally testament to their continued staying power to see how varied the crowd is tonight. There was a time when a typical Levellers gig could be stereotyped to a reasonable degree of accuracy. Now, times have changed – a fact underlined by the sheer weight of ages, styles and cultural groups brought together by these songs. For some, this is the first time and for others, they’ve sung these words live one hundred times before. It doesn’t matter – this is a band that always has connected with people, and continues to do so long after their contemporaries have departed stage left. By the end, there’s a near riot going on as a triple encore of ‘Just the One’, a frenetic ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ and a glorious closing ‘The Riverflow’ forces boots off the floor and heads together in a wonderful celebration of communal joy. They’ve still got something to say, we’ve got something we need to hear and the songs seem to have barely dated a day. It’s no wonder that The Levellers remain as potent a force now as they ever were. On the evidence of tonight, don’t rule out 50 years.
