In1996 The Levellers were at the top of their game, after years of living on the road, selling their own mix of folk, rock and social rebellion. Thus the choice to put out a live album was well timed, with a string of well-received albums and singles behind them and a captive audience before them it was a marketing executives dream. This album was recorded on tour through out Europe and has an accompanying video from the Blackpool Empress Ballroom, the last concert on the Zeitgeist Tour and both play like a greatest hits album. A large amount of the material comes from the Levelling The Land album, which to this day remains rightly regarded as a classic, but with contributions from the two preceding albums and also their latest release it stands up as a fine documentation of their work up to that date.
It could be argued that The Levellers were responsible for breathing new life into the folk rock music genre. When they first reached for their mandolins and army surplus boots in 1988, folk rock was as about as unpopular as you could get. After winning over audiences supporting New Model Army, through sheer bloody mindedness and determination they carved out a place for themselves and their re-launched style of music and by the time of this live album were reaping the fruits of their labours.
The rumbling bass line of Sell Out opens the show, random audience shrieks occasionally breaking through to add to the authenticity of the live setting. As the guitars join the fray, building the song and heightening the tension, unfortunately the downside of live recordings comes to the fore; the dramatic violin riff that should launch the song is lost in the mix, lessening the impact some what. This is only a temporary set back and buttons are tweaked and sliders slide and soon the balance is found, such is the nature of live recordings. One thing that it does show is that the recording has not been enhanced after the event. It would be all too easy to over dub a better violin track on the original, but here the band maintain their honesty and integrity. You get a truthful recording of the night in question, take it or leave it. The relevance of Sell Out is still to be found in its lyrics.
Now in a land not far away, there's men in prison because they say
The colour of your skin is not a question
Did you rally to their side
No, you sat back and let them die
I don't know how you get to sleep at night
What are also noticeable in this song is how many influences the band can call on. From the folk lilt of the violin, the raw punky guitars through to the rap delivery of the middle eight there is a diverse mixing pot of styles hear which undermines the simple folk rock tag that the band have been labelled with.
The lighter Hope Street, soon to be one of their biggest hits to date, follows with its violin lead riff and its social commentary we are on very familiar territory. The sound desk has got itself in order by now and a clear definition to the different instruments is now in place. Hope Street and its successor Fifteen Years are classic examples of the popularity of The Levellers, the songs have something to say about everyday life but do so in a way that doesn't sound like preaching and is also a accompanied by music that lifts you up and makes you want to dance.
Exodus marks a slight change in direction here, a heavy dub style rock delivers the story of that new age group that were the instigators of the outdoor rave scene in Britain. It should be remembered that however unlikely the alliance, the new age traveller scene that the Levellers became the soundtrack for were closely tied to the illegal underground music scene that spawned the rave culture of the late eighties and early nineties. This song, with its guest DJ , Explode from Prophets of Da City infuses all those elements in this historical reflection on that chapter of modern times.
The folk influences rise to the surface on the next song, one of the oldest in the set, which saw light of day on their debut album A Weapon Called The Word. Carry Me is an acoustic number about standing by your fellow man in hard times.
So, when you're standing by the roadside
and there's a long way to go
I'll carry you
if you carry me
The Boatman carries those folk influences deeper into traditional territory. The guitars blend together into an intricate weave of picked strings and strummed minor chords as the violin flows between them. Lyrically Mark, the main songwriter is content to leave the poignant statements behind and drop into a utopian dream as he muses on a simpler life. By contrast Three Friends, which follows is one of the stranger songs that feature in the bands repertoire. Effected violin and phased out guitars wash over a driving backbeat which is reminiscent something more akin to Hawkwind or Ozric Tentacles, but variety is the spice of life and this is a very spicy band we are dealing with here.
Always at the forefront of the Levellers songs is a love of the land, whether connecting with the ancient races, as in the opening number, or evoking the journey through picturesque lands of the Boatman. Men-An-Tol deals with the magic and emptiness of the Cornish landscape.
So I find myself among
The brave south western hills
Running like a mad man on the moor!
Let the sweet Atlantic rain
Wash away my ills
The Men-an-Tol shone strangely in the storm
Rising from a simple voice and acoustic guitar to build into a typical, if some what haunting, Levellers tune it contains a certain amount of bleakness that reflects the subject matter well. An earth song if ever there was one. The is none of your hippy flowery trappings that many writers would fall into when tackling such subject matter, just an honest connecting with the outdoors and its timeless existence. The familiar classic violin riff and twinkling mandolin licks of The Road drag us through all of the small clubs, street corners, transit vans and roadside cafes that formed the early career of the band. And through it all the optimism of playing music and the beauty of the freedom of such a life style belies the realities of such a lifestyle. But it's a great dance tune and that's what they are in the business of doing.
From here on in the album begins its build up to the crescendo of the show. As the mournful sounds of the didgeridoo build, those in the know cheer for the arrival of one of the bands best known songs. Tension is built through eerie guitar sounds, the audience claps the rhythm, drums and bass set the pace and finally at breaking point, the place explodes and by the time Mark has the audience chanting "There's only one way of life, and that's your own" the place is on fire. The pace is kept up by the raucous violin build up of England, My Home a punk fuelled rant at what the band see as the demise of the place of their birth. Mark asks "Why is it England, I feel like rubbish on your streets?" and his love and loathing for his country come pouring out in equal measure.
The Battle of The Beanfield is one of the most powerful pieces in the set, the story of the battle between the Police and the New Age Travellers at Stonehenge in the early nineties, a dark piece of history and a call for justice and changes in the laws. As the band speed of trough this slice of hate filled rock and roll, sirens wail and the words are spat with venom as those mean times are invoked. Liberty is the title and subject of the next song and the pressure is not letting up. Guitars and drums charge into this stomp of a song, a real rally to arms for the common man.
The album ends with a frantic folk thrash called Riverflow, a reflection on times past and a real audience participation number, you can see bodies flying around full pelt and fists punching the air, a great end to a great set captured in all its glory on this album.
As live albums go this one has the right feeling to it. It may be slightly lacking in production in places, but it is an honest documentation of the live abilities of the band. Leveller's warts and all. Whether you are a fan of the band and want to experience or recapture the essence of the band, or are looking for a place to start as an introduction to one of England's finest bands, then this is the album for you.