A month ago I found out about Elbow’s Abbey Road concert with the BBC orchestra in which they played the entirety of The Seldom Seen Kid, their Mercury Award-winning fourth studio album. Not being a UK resident, I couldn’t see it, but they were releasing a CD/DVD set of the concert direct through their website. (Region 2, no doubt, but I have a multiregion DVD player, so not a biggie.)
Naturally, I had to have that. Especially once I found a *cough*bootleg-mp3*cough* of the concert. The version of “Some Riot” they played is the most heartrending thing I’ve heard in an age; it’s beautiful and tragic and moving all at once with its swell of strings, the twinkling of the piano, the backing choir, and Guy Garvey’s voice — “When will my friend start singing again” indeed.
So I placed my order, and today I received an e-mail from the band about it.
Abbey Road Boxset Clarification
For those of you who ordered the boxset via the original Trinity Street pre-order, your orders will be dispatched as normal on the release date of 30th March.
The original Trinity Street pre-orders are now being handled by another party – not HMV – so please do not direct any inquiries about these original orders to HMV.
We apologise for any inconvenience but we assure all Elbow fans that their orders will be fulfilled as originally planned. Thanks for bearing with us.
On a completely random note, my font of English has been permanently defiled, to borrow Sherlock Holmes’ line from “His Last Bow.” Opera tells me that “apologise” is misspelled, but I know it’s not. I’ve lapse at times into British spellings, and it’s difficult for me at times to catch them in copy I work with at work.
Anyway.
I now know when I should see the Elbow live CD/DVD set — early April. Is it early April yet? 😉
I love “Some Riot,” by the way. Despite Guy Garvey’s introduction to the song on the iTunes Live From London album that “Here’s a song of impending doom and tragedy,” I find the song… hopeful. That someone, bound up in the brambles, real or imagined, of life can find his way free to sing again and be free.
Also, recording for their fifth album, due out sometime in 2010, has begun on a remote island in Scotland. It’s also weird to me that I’m nine months older than frontman Guy Garvey, who just turned thirty-five. Weird.
I know, I’m such an evangelist for Elbow, but how can I not be? They write music for me. That’s not such a bad thing to feel.
You might like to checkout the new fansite on the block, http://elbowfans.ning.com with features including members’ archive access.
We’re a developing site, already with a devoted membership helping compile a catalogue of various live and rare tracks amongst videos, info and more.
All Elbow fans welcome!
I fixed your link. You’d left out a letter. 🙂
Ouch – what a typo! Try http://elbowfans.ning.com and that’ll get you there…