Sleeper at The Brook, 466 Portswood Road, Portswood, Southampton SO17 3DD on 10.11.2023
While Sleeper are a band I have seen a fair bit in recent years, tonight’s novel factors are the ‘unplugged’ approach and seating downstairs at the legendary old pub venue of The Brook. Hence a brief blog is in order.
My live Sleeper gigs started with their support slot for REM in July 1995 (with The Cranberries and Radiohead) and blossomed on their reformation in 2017. This trail is expanded on in my Sleeper/ Bluetones blog of August 2021.
Looking back I realise I haven’t been to The Brook since a From The Jam gig (blog link) in August 2021, but it’s certainly well established venue on my personal ongoing tour. That blog has more details and observations on the venue.
Having bought the tickets for tonight as an all-seated event I was curious to see the set up. Chairs in tight rows, with the ability to stand by the bar to the right, the merch ‘bar’ to the left or at the back, including the spacious corner near the bar. All good but getting in and out for beer or bogs in what is usually a very casual setting can create a bit of a nuisance… which I managed to do with a few pints of Blue Moon. However, seating was entirely the right environment for this ‘unplugged’ approach. The bare bricked walled stage looked good – beautifully lit.
There are seats upstairs in the balcony here anyway, which give a great view over the high stage if you get the right spot.
Tonight’s ‘unplugged’ badge is earned by, it seems to me, not having a drummer or a bassist. It’s an interesting concept where everyone is plugged in but it’s all just a bit calmer. A semi-acoustic electric guitar and an acoustic one do make an appearance but the band is mainly Jon Stewart on electric guitar and Andy Maclure, the usual drummer (and Louise’s partner) on keyboards and a bit of guitar, with Lousie Wener’s vocals at the heart of it – Louise also plays guitar in a solo section (Alice in Vain).
No support but two sets, divided by a questions and answer session and a break. The Q&A worked well – entertaining and jovial responses by all three band members to the selected written questions handed in before the show. Louise’s voice is great despite a passing cold – just a little more husky between songs.
A well-crafted mix with five or so tracks from each of the first two albums, Smart and The It Girl, making up a substantial part of the set. Two top five albums from the mid-90s Britpop years.
Great sound tonight and no bad songs, the most memorable from part one being Nice Guy Eddie and Statuesque and with part two lifting it further with Inbetweener and Sale of the Century.
The way Sleeper hit the top of the charts in the 90s and then disappeared until they reformed in 2017 has meant they still have a freshness. Throw in Covid disruption and Lockdown gig starvation, a new album and an album of rediscovered recordings and this is an oldish band with a newish feel.
… and The Brook with seats. Yup this is a good way to do it.
Gigs with Ivan 