Controlled noise and elegant poise: Savages live in London

The question is put to the test tonight (3rd December) at The Dome in London where their set includes eight songs from their forthcoming second album Adore Life. Will the lack of familiarity with the material mean the new songs will pale in comparison to those from their debut Silence Yourself? The answer to that is an emphatic no.

Even though tonight is effectively a warmup show they approach it like it’s the last they’ll ever play. Whilst the music is incredibly serious, live they inject a joy into their performance that’s the antithesis of the bleakness they’re erroneously associated with.

They enter in silhouette, dressed in black with stark white lights behind them it initially projects a monochrome feel, but as soon as they ease into “I Need Something New” from Adore Life they quickly move into technicolour. Beth opens it A cappella and is then joined by squalls of noise from guitarist Gemma Thompson and a brooding bass from Ayşe Hassan as Fay Milton gives her drum-kit a brutal battering. Recent single “The Answer” combines the musical attack of Motörhead’s “Ace Of Spades” with Spacemen 3’s “Revolution.” Built around a guitar drone of impressive power, it’s incredibly immersive and magnificently controlled.

“Shut Up”, the only song from the first half of the set from Silence Yourself, possesses the similarly freewheeling mixture of melody, power and rhythm of Siouxsie and the Banshees “Spellbound”. Its jagged funk prompts even the impassive security guard stood next to me to remove his hands from behind his back and start nodding along.

Other songs from Adore Life show how they’re spreading their musical wings but refining, rather than reinventing themselves. They still use the trope of repetition musically and lyrically to wonderful effect, “Sad Person” closes with the line “What else, what else, what else?”

“Evil”’s spacious arrangement takes the music into a more epic space, with Milton’s spectacularly controlled drumming recalling the metronomic playing of New Order’s Stephen Morris. “Slowing Down the World” has the jauntiest pop guitar riff they’ve ever written, there’s still a dissonance to the melody but it’s as playful as Savages have ever been musically.

The second half of the set draws predominantly from Silence Yourself. “Hit Me” starts with Beth asking “Do you want fast? I think we can do that…” Her vocal stops and starts with Thompson’s guitar line throughout and she ends the song walking across the shoulders of the crowd, finally standing up straight six rows in.

“She Will” - introduced as “This song is for the boys” - highlights their supremely assured musicianship. Hassan picks out a bassline of deft funk, whilst Thompson wrings out all sorts of noise from her guitar, combining it with an astonishing dexterity and Milton’s bass drum sounds like it’s being hit by a jackhammer. As post-punk’s philosophy was about musicians who could not only play their instruments masterfully, but do something original with them, such as PIL’s guitarist Keith Levine or The Banshees drummer Budgie, then applying such a label to Savages has a certain logic, but live they feel beyond any notion of genre.

“Adore” is a standout on Adore Life and live it’s a showstopper. Slow and sensuous, it starts like a blues song, gradually uncoiling itself before stopping in the middle with the line “I adore life” featuring just voice and bass. It then builds to a gigantic crescendo with Beth’s voice moving up what feels like an octave to soar over the music.

They close with “Fuckers” which in terms of its use of the vernacular and sheer intensity has a kindred spirit in Super Furry Animals “The Man Don’t Give A Fuck”, such is its insurrectionism. When they finish it they walk to the front of the stage and drape their arms over each other’s shoulders. Like all the best rock ‘n’ roll bands, Savages are unquestionably a gang.

Live they live up to the feral nature of their name, but the key nuance is the control and skill they apply to their playing and performance, which at its very least is brilliant and at its very best is incredible

So, back to the initial question, is there a better live band than Savages at the moment? No, is the answer.

• Photo by Jason Williamson. See the full gallery here.