Saint Etienne at Bloomsbury Ballroom

Saint Etienne at Bloomsbury Ballroom

18 May, 2009
by: Tom Jeffreys

There's always something a little worrying about seeing your favourite bands, especially a good fifteen years after their prime. So I'm pretty apprehensive in advance of Saint Etienne's gig at Bloomsbury Ballroom. The thing in particular with Saint Etienne is that part of their charm has always been the fact that actually they're a tiny bit cheesy. But what if this cheesiness that I'd always found so alluring completely takes over? What if they're actually rubbish?

I needn't have worried because tonight, in the Art Deco magnificence of Bloomsbury Ballroom, Saint Etienne are absolutely magnificent. To celebrate the re-release of Mercury-shortlisted debut album, they're playing 'Foxbase Alpha' in its entirety, and boy, are we in for a treat.

The night kicks off with a video montage of the usual Saint Etienne reference points: obscure '60s film stars, provincial French football teams and shots of often-overlooked parts of London. Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs stand behind keyboards looking smartly anonymous in matching black polo shirts, there's some retro French football announcements from album prologue 'This is Radio Etienne', and then 'ladies and gentlemen, what you've been waiting for' the arrival on-stage of the coy seductress Sarah Cracknell.

Dressed in demure checked suit – jacket removed halfway through to reveal a short-sleeved black roll-neck – Sarah Cracknell is the antithesis of the front-girls of today: no GaGa-esque swimsuits here or zany Karen O haircut posturing. She's chic and understated, but never too cool. Girls see an attainable beauty; guys think they already know her.

The bouncy rhythms of 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' get the crowd of thirty-somethings dancing immediately. Instantly it's 1991 again. Albeit a bit more dignified this time around. The best songs on the album – 'Carnt Sleep', 'Nothing Can Stop Us Now', 'She's the One' – are blinding, and even the lesser tracks are exquisite. This is the kind of ambient house-lite that you can lose yourself inside: immersed in waves of warming sound, quietly ushered along by gently thudding beats, and lulled to dance-sleep by Sarah Cracknell's blessed honeyed vocals.

There's beauty here for sure, but also melancholy, nostalgia, hope and warmth. Even a moment of humour as Sarah justifies the need for a clipboard to remember the lyrics for 'Girl VII'. After a brief break, they're back for a few crowd-pleasing classics, closing with massive hit 'He's on the Phone'. Saint Etienne leave the crowd wanting more but delighted with what they've witnessed. Tonight is a triumph for hedonistic subtlety.

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Tom Jeffreys