Suede
BRIGHTON DOME. BRIGHTON

Suede

BRIGHTON DOME. BRIGHTON

Eventually, amid the roaring that follows the band's emblematic pre-Britpop hit "Animal Nitrate", frontman Brett Anderson leaps on to the central monitors, arms outstretched, bathing in it. "That's what I'm talking about - that's why you never give it up." he announces with a smile.

Since their return from a seven-year hiatus in 2013, Suede have enjoyed huge commercial success with their new music. It's something Anderson refers to at the concert's very end, scoffing at 90s nostalgia acts and closing with "Life is Golden", a song from last autumn's Top 5 album, The Blue Hour.

The band, all dressed in black, bounce enthusiastically and guitarist Richard Oakes throws himself around to his riffs - but in many ways, Anderson is The

Suede Show.

They finish "Sabotage". a mid-paced. elegant number set off by swirling central guitar and Anderson tells the audience he's "been standing in front of VOX AC30 amps for 30 years". The result. he adds in a rising shout, "is that I can't hear you."

It's a showbiz shot, dryly delivered, but it works. He adopts flamenco dance stomping for "She"; he flops on to his back at the stage lip as "So Young" trails off, his sprawled arm touching that of a reaching fan. For 1992 debut single "The Drowners" he wades into the crowd and they won't easily let him go.

Anderson sometimes comes across as a comical cartoonish figure but behind his exaggerated film-star stage mannerisms, an unexpected warmth emanates from the supreme 90s poseur. That a well-oiled rock'n'roll outfit carries him with ease boosts everything.

Together, the five of them ramp up encore hit "Beautiful Ones" until its "la-la-la" crowd chorus reverberates to the rafters.

Photographer: Anthony Wallace