Pic credit: Dean Chalkley

Suede will go down in history as one of the truly great bands that this country has produced. Their eponymous debut LP recently celebrated it’s 30-year anniversary and was the record that spawned the movement that was to become Britpop. It’s no overstatement to say that Blur, Pulp and Oasis wouldn’t have had the success they did without Suede.

It’s safe to say that no-one predicted them to outlast their previously mentioned contemporaries, but here we are, Suede’s light burns brighter than ever. Their ninth studio album, ‘Autofiction’ hit number two in the UK charts and after a trip stateside they’ve returned home to celebrate with a near sold out UK tour. Closing at Leeds’s O2 Academy.

Kicking off the night was a blistering set from Dublin’s, ‘SPRINTS’. Combining the intensity of their fellow countrymen, ‘Fontaines DC’ and the pop bliss of, ‘Wet Leg’ they put on a blistering show that more than warmed the crowd up for the main event.

Opening up Suede’s set was the monolithic, ‘Turn Off Your Brain and Yell’. Thick with dirty post-punk guitars it’s clear to see that Suede are not content with re-hashing the 90’s a la Liam Gallagher, but rather taking inspiration from the rich post punk scene burgeoning now. As, ‘Personality Disorder’ springs into life you’d be forgiven for thinking this was one of their greatest hits, with the crowd singing along in unanimous ecstasy.

The show really sprung into life with the barrage of hits that came next. ‘The Drowners’, ‘Animal Nitrate’, ‘Trash’ and, ‘Filmstar’ followed one after another with front-man Brett Anderson revelling in the crowd’s euphoria. Dancing around stage and shaking his bits to the hits in a way that ensures you cannot take your eyes off him.

At this point in the show it was clear to see that the pace needed slowing down. And what better way to do that than a beautiful, heart-wrenching rendition of, ‘Stay Together’, only the second time the track has been performed live since 2011. The magnitude of this not being lost on Anderson who remarked that the last night of the tour, “needs something special”.

As the set draws to a close hits such as, ‘Metal Micky’, ‘So Young’ and, ‘Beautiful Ones’ gelled seamlessly with cuts from their latest album. It was abundantly clear that these latest tracks are pure, undiluted Suede. The sleek sexiness combined with the tales of over-spill towns all delivered with true caution to the wind.

The aforementioned, ‘Beautiful Ones’ closed out the show, as if there was any other option. With arms aloft, there was not a person in the venue who was not belting out every word in perfect unison. Evidence if there ever there was that Suede can stake their claim to having an alternative national anthem.

As a life band, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Suede are the best live band going. The older tracks received the crowd adulation, but it was the newer tracks were the band truly came into their own. Suede are seasoned veterans that are refusing to rest on their laurels, but are instead an ever evolving tour de force.