Levellers have been very successfully making anti-establishment / left-wing politics inspired music for almost 40 years. They’ve never really been the sort of band that would fill stadiums (besides a 300,000 crowd at Glastonbury in 1994), but they wouldn’t want to be, and I doubt their fans would like that either; much better to perform at large or mid-sized venues. So Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall is perhaps the perfect choice.
This folk, alternative-rock band from Brighton have kept a steady core line-up over the years and it’s paid off for them - they rank as one of the most successful bands in UK history, having more than 20 chart singles and six top-40 albums. The current line-up is Mark Chadwick (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Jeremy Cunningham (bass guitar, vocals), Charlie Heather (drums), Jonathan Sevink (fiddle), Matt Savage (keyboards) and Dan Donnelly.
That said, there are in fact nine musicians on stage tonight, and after many years as a collective they’re clearly very comfortable with each other, confident to rely on one another and understanding how to play together flawlessly. There is so much going on: guitars, drums, double bass, fiddle, vocal harmonies... even a didgeridoo. They put it all out there for the crowd to enjoy.
And everyone in the band gets a chance at some point to individually shine. The band play the entire set on acoustic instruments, plugged in for amplification, but not electric. That makes the whole affair slightly less exciting, and as they are also all seated it feels a little tame, for a band that were once known for fairly energetic sets.
After the first half dozen songs Chadwick, who has hardly said a word so far makes mention that “This is not like Rock City”… he’s not wrong! Maybe that would have been a more appropriate venue after all. But James played here late in 2024, and they certainly made more use of the stage and were noticeably more animated than The Levellers.
Chadwick invites the audience to speak to him Someone shouts out a request for Beautiful Day. Chadwick responds with, “I don’t know how you’ll handle the disappointment, but we are not going to play that one.” Not much is said after that, which is probably best considering how that little exchange went down. It might seem pointless asking for audience interaction, if you immediately reject it. Especially when it is a simple request for you to play one of your best known, best loved and biggest hits.
So, anyone expecting Levellers to be relying on their impressive back catalogue of hits to fill out tonight’s set list is now up to speed: it’s not going to happen. Levellers are here to play by their own rules. This is not a band resting on the laurels of their success in the 90s; they are a band still creating new music and going out to play it live; they’re a living, evolving entity and they are eager to prove that they are still relevant in today’s music scene with new tracks.
Thankfully among some of the “newer” tracks (and for much of the audience this is going to include anything post-1997) there are several “older” songs such as Julie, Hope Street, The Riverflow, and One Way, but if anyone in the audience doesn’t know some of the songs, Chadwick’s vocals are so clear that it’s possible to enjoy every song anyway.
The band finally turn up the energy for an encore of Burford Stomp, Down by the River ‘O’, and What You Know. And everyone gets out of their seats to enjoy it.
The Levellers performed at the Royal Concert Hall on 14th March 2025.
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