Gig review: Public Service Broadcasting at Rock City

Entering Rock City's main hall just before 8pm, the room is already pretty full as we await tonight’s support act. I’d only known French singer, songwriter and producer Halo Maud from her collaborations with The Chemical Brothers, so it was great to finally get an introduction to her usual solo output. The scratchy, jittery guitars of Celebrate are captivating straight away, as she amplifies her soft vocals through the rose-petal-adorned microphone. The duo of Catch The Wave and You Float are then the highlight of the set, with Maud throwing handfuls of confetti into the front row on the latter.

She ends the short performance on a dramatic rendition of French language cuts Pesnopoïka and Entends‐tu ma voix, the stage lights turning blood red as she powers through the mesmerising, distorted riffs. A decent opening set to begin the night.

After the usual 30-minute interval, a voice suddenly comes over the speaker system with a polite notice about tonight’s Public Service Broadcasting performance: “What you are about to witness will change your life forever – so don’t watch the whole thing through your phone!... Also talking loudly is very annoying too!”

The crowd loudly cheer this precedent being set, although for me as a reviewer it does also mean none of my usual notetaking allowed. Thankfully though, it’s a show you won’t soon forget.

Interestingly the stage backdrop tonight has been crafted to look like the cockpit of an aeroplane and as the band arrive, the incorporated circular screens come to life with archive film footage and audio clips of Aviation pioneer and legendary explorer, Amelia Earhart. She is the focus and subject matter of the band’s latest opus The Last Flight, with the set dedicated to showcasing that record as Towards The Dawn, Electra and The Fun of It all get an airing (pun intended) early doors. However, there’s plenty of older cuts sprinkled in too with the band’s signature track, Theme From PSB, being followed by popular single, Progress.

It should be noted that the Main Hall is at near sell-out capacity at this point, with the lively Tuesday night crowd willingly clapping along when encouraged. The narrative arc around Amelia Earhart continues with The South Atlantic, Arabian Flight and A Different Kind of Love, with the latter dedicated to J. Willgoose Esquire’s Mum and Dad, who met at the University of Nottingham and are both in the audience tonight.

It’s then time for two rarities - firstly ROYGBIV from the band’s debut, which sees rainbow- coloured lasers light up Rock City as J. Willgoose Esquire plucks away expertly on the banjo. He then introduces Elfstedentocht, Part 2 – a song about Dutch ice-skating – which draws huge elation from certain sections of the crowd, with the die-hards in the audience clearly aware this is the first time the song has been performed live in six years. It’s a big peak in the set, which only continues thanks to the EERA-featuring Blue Heaven, who has been one of the standout performers throughout, operating on guest vocals and additional instrumentation for much of the show.

It's then into the finale of the main set, with PSB saving a few big hitters for last. Monsoons
is firstly the grand climax to the Amelia Earhart portion of the evening, with J. Willgoose’s thunderous riffs and Wrigglesworth’s pounding drums perfectly emulating the storm being depicted on the track. Early single Spitfire then draws huge cheers, before a captivating performance of The Other Side transports the audience to the dark side of the moon. We remain up amongst the stars for Go, a song about the Apollo 11 rocket launch, which sees the crowd fist pump and yell “GO!” and “STAY!” along with the archive audio – as close as PSB get to their own singalong anthem!

That song concludes the main set, but it’s not long before the band are beckoned back onto the stage, with J. Willgoose promising they will play “three, possibly four more songs” for the applauding crowd. Thankfully it’s the latter, with EERA once again taking lead vocals on the poignant They Gave Me A Lamp, before the pulsating Berlin-inspired People, Let’s Dance. It aptly gets everyone grooving, including the three-piece brass section of the band who have ventured to the front of the stage, having spent most of the set at the back.

It’s just in time for a euphorically joyous rendition of The Race For Space single Gagarin, which is resplendent with big brass horns and even sees the two dancing spacemen from the song’s music video busting a move on the stage. Undoubtedly one of the most electric and fun encores I’ve experienced all year, PSB then finally – and triumphantly – close the evening on their best loved song, Everest, to really tie a bow on this outstanding, completely unique show.

Public Service Broadcasting performed at Rock City on 22nd October 2024.

@psb_hq