There has been something of a law of increasing returns governing Elbow since we first saw them supporting Grandaddy at The Leadmill in Sheffield in 2000. The band just get better and better with each passing year. It’s not that each new album is better than the last – their albums are so consistently good that it’s difficult to say which one is my favourite – but the extra weight that they add to the band’s exemplary back catalogue means that their live sets become more and more of an event as the years pass. With the release of The Seldom Seen Kid, Elbow now have an embarrassment of riches to call upon and their set at the Academy last Sunday was one long series of high points. It helps that the band were back in their home town for the first time in a couple of years and that Guy Garvey has become such a charming, charismatic and self-effacing frontman that he makes the venue feel much smaller than it actually is.

They kicked off with “Starlings” from the new album and it was a startling opener with a number of the band playing trumpet on the song’s occasional singular burst of brass. The following “The Bones Of You” was tender and heartfelt with Garvey’s superb vocals coming to the fore. “Leaders Of The Free World” and “Forget Myself” were barnstorming sing-alongs and there was a very welcome surprise guest appearance from that other great and charismatic northern frontman Richard Hawley for “The Fix”. They went back to the first album for “Red” and “Newborn” and both sounded better than ever with Garvey allowing the audience to sing the first verse of the latter. The highlight of the set, however, came in the encore with “Station Approach”, one of the band’s finest songs, and one about the “greatest city in the world” as Garvey put it. No one argued. Instead we waved to Garvey’s mum, who was stood on the balcony (yes, the Academy’s refurbishment has finally been completed and it now has a balcony, an entrance that doesn’t resemble a building site and toilets that aren’t portaloos) and sang along at the top of our voices. Richard Hawley appeared again for the closing, hymnal “Grace Under Pressure” which was, you’ve guessed it, another huge sing-along. We left reeling off song after great song that they didn’t play: no “Fugitive Motel”, no “Powder Blue, no “Scattered Black And Whites”. Maybe they’ll play them next time, and if they don’t it’ll still probably be the best Elbow gig we’ve seen.

Elbow – Starlings

Elbow – Station Approach