The Verve - London, October 1992

October 23, 1992; Camden Town Hall, London. At the start of the decade that made them famous, The Verve were a rather different band. In 1992, the burgeoning Britpop movement was making its melodic march up the pop charts, but Verve (no definite article at this point) weren't part of that quite yet. In fact, it didn't sound like their feet were touching the ground at all. This live recording makes the impression: Nick McCabe's playing is floating in the ether, at times condensing into a rocket thruster roar, while the Simon Jones/Peter Salisbury rhythm unit taps into the pulse of the cosmos. Richard Ashcroft is very obviously somewhere in the stratosphere on this night. I don't know if The Verve will ever get their due for being a solid shoegaze/dream pop band at the start of their career, but the performance here is to me testament why they deserve that recognition. The Verve's debut EP and first full length, A Storm in Heaven,* are two of my go-to recordings for the hottest days of the summertime. There's something about the openness of the songcraft and the psychedelic textures of the sound in these records that fit the melting afternoons almost too well.

*The deluxe edition of the album conveniently packages up the EP + early singles with it, along with some concert/radio session cuts for more early live Verve goodness.