Editors at Wembley Arena

15 years after taking the British rock scene by storm with The Back Room, Editors play their biggest headline show today, at Wembley Arena. They are here to promote their best of album Black Gold as part of a European tour that will take them as far as Ukraine and Russia.

Given the scope of this concert, fans are in for a treat. The setlist spans their entire discography and includes songs such as Distance, which has been played live only a handful of times. An End Has a Start kicks off the night. The atmosphere is still a little cold and the basic light show doesn’t help. It’s strange – if not upsetting – as they voraciously perform incredible songs such as Bullets, Bones and Escape the Nest.

Editors have proved something of utmost importance about music: you don’t have to keep doing the same thing again and again to stay true to yourself. They first did it with In This Light and on This Evening – a masterpiece, though only Papillon gets played tonight – and never stopped. Their most recent single Frankenstein, with infectious eerie beats and loops, confirmed their unique approach.

Tom Smith is an inspired frontman who always, without fail, enters a trance state, his moves and antics seamlessly blending with the music. Literally 80% of the concert could be cited as a highlight and the seated audience now dances through all the upbeat numbers. With A Ton of Love, All Sparks and The Racing Rats, Editors go the extra mile. Smith, at this point on fire, viscerally sings his heart out to Wembley. 22 songs into the setlist, it’s time for the big guns: first Munich – one of the most iconic rock hits of the noughties – and finally Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors, possibly their greatest song, capable of filling any venue, stadium or festival field with its epic, feel-good grandness. For a band known for their dark sound, Black Gold really is an appropriate title.

Filippo L’Astorina
Photos: Virginie Viche

For further information and future events visit Editors’s website here.

Watch the video for Frankenstein here: