Primal Scream, Irving Plaza, New York May 20, 2015 -

NEW YORK – A full house gathered at Irving Plaza on May 20th for the first of two dates of Scotland’s Primal Scream’s NYC tour. Although they may have seen their ‘hey day’ many moons ago, their fan base has stayed loyal and true throughout the decades, perhaps even picking up some youngsters of a more recent generation along the way.

Front man Bobby Gillespie looks and sounds fantastic for his age and is the epitome of what every front man should aspire to be. Breaking down the invisible wall that stands between the audience and the band, he creates the lubricated musical flow that brings everyone together in just under two hours. Many times it’s as though a band is performing in isolation; this is certainly not the case for Primal Scream.

Slow and steady progression throughout the night as the band managed to hit a total of 16 songs that span their inconsistently consistent musical career. Primal Scream is most noted for their experimental musical abilities, very rarely ever duplicating the same sort of sound. They’ve released music that has ranged from mid 80s rock n roll jammers to psychedelic sunshine glow even tapping into the acid house electronic realm.

Humble and passionate, Gillespie introduced songs with a blurt of gracious reality, “It’s really fucking great to be here!”, “New York, do you wanna get down?! How low you wanna go?!”, and “New York, are you ready to get loaded? Let’s go, baby!” Powerful and diverse musical ensemble plus a smashingly magnetic front man equals one seriously amazing live show from Primal Scream.

Gillespie is able to rouse and rile the audience in the most brilliant of ways. Soaring like an eagle back and forth across the stage while gracefully blowing kisses to all of his loyal listening comrades. You can feel the energy he projects onto his crowd and it’s swelling with excitement, happiness, and an intense appreciation.

Before the show started people seemed apprehensive to see them without bassist, Mani Mounfield, who left the band in 2011 to join The Stone Roses. Mani’s replacement, Simone Butler, held down the show in her role very well. There may have been some mixed feelings from the fans over Mani’s departure and current line up but overall, the show was visibly received well.

SETLIST
Primal Scream
2013 (2015 version)
Can’t Go Back
Jailbird
Accelerator
Kill All Hippies
Burning Wheel
Shoot Speed/Kill Light
Damaged
Higher Than the Sun
Autobahn 66
Swastika Eyes
Country Girl
Movin’ On Up

Encore:
I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have
Loaded
Rocks

Article by: Stephanie Fasteau
Photos by: Emily Cheng