Belly, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Tonight Belly are at a sold-out Rescue Rooms as part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of their second album ‘King’. 

There is no support act and as we wait for the band to play the first of two sets we listen to an oddly Kim Deal heavy selection of warm up music. 

Then they come on stage to play the first of two sets which sees them perform ‘King’ in full in its original order including the likes of the very rarely played ‘L'il Ennio’. 

‘King’ was released in 1995 and was meant to be the album that built on the success of their first in 1993. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen for them and Tanya Donelly broke up the band a year later. 

It wasn’t until they got back together ten years later that their third album ‘Dove’ was recorded in 2018. Which was the last time they were in Nottingham and as bass player Gail Greenwood says there seems to be plenty of repeat offenders here tonight. 

The songs still sound great today and while I’ve always thought I preferred their first album, now thirty years on I’m not so sure. The likes of ‘Puberty’, ‘Superconnected’, ‘Now They'll Sleep’ and ‘Seal My Fate’ all sound amazing this evening. 

After just a 15-minute break they come back on to play a second set throughout which Donelly repeatedly apologises for messing up and starting songs in the wrong key. Not that we’ve noticed. 

 

The set opens with the b-side ‘Thief’ but thereafter leans heavily on their debut album ‘Star’ as they rattle through ‘Dusted’, ‘Gepetto’, ‘Low Red Moon’, ‘Slow Dog’ and ‘Feed the Tree’ with ‘Human Child’ from their third album ‘Dove’ in the middle. Then they close the set with another off ‘Dove’ in ‘Shiny One’ 

They return for a one song encore, the slow building ‘Full Moon Empty Heart’ and then that’s it for another bunch of years.