The Levellers Collective – The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool – Saturday 15th March 2025

The Levellers Collective is once again on the roll. The Levs acoustic, plus some chairs and a handful of Moulettes is becoming a more regular occurrence these days with studio (We The Collective, Together All The Way) and live (Live at Hackney Empire) product hitting and flying off the shelves.

It’s the sort of set up that has some fans debating over the likes of What A Beautiful Day. While Mark Chadwick has said how it’s the law to play it, the Collective thinks differently and the signature song is omitted from the teamsheet, not even adapted in some radical arrangement. maybe saved for a more appropriately riotous bounce along in a plugged in set. Horses for courses.

THE YIN TO THE ELECTRIC YANG

Jeremy Cunningham has noted: “We flex our musical muscles with stuff that’s really hard to play but really rewarding at the same time. The yin to our electric yang!” The Collective takes their ‘subvert’ philosophy and applies it to the music. And there lies the beauty of the Collective incarnation. The setlist might be tweaked, the arrangements might get redressed, but to do similar tweak with the title of their debut album from 1990, The Levs’ weapon is the word.

It’s also an album that along with Truth & Lies, Mouth To Mouth and Green Blade Rising, often get a raw deal in favour of the iconic Levelling The Land, the odd splash of new music and the expectation of what the rabid fan base hopes and demands to be played.

SUBVERTED

And so with the circus feel to the backdrop which has the band name spelled out in lolly stick balloons instead of one of Jez’s rather robust artworks, the look is very different. It feels odd to not have him swinging his dreads around and swapping places with Jon Sevink. On the other hand it’s good to have Matt in the front line with Mark and Dan Donnelly, the latest recruit who’s made that spot his own.

The sound you’d expect from this format up in the acoustic jugband feel, all harmonica and fiddle, of The Ballad Of Robbie Jones. And then there’s the gorgeous harmonies and melody of Man O’ War from the Collective sessions that’s right up with their electric fire and fury work. One that you could easily see support act, Ian Prowse taking a turn with. and a perfect pairing with Julie (as poignant as ever) and Elation in a mid set highpoint. The latter is given a very Moulette-like Gothic darkness with the moaning cello.

However, the format often sees guitars abandoned and the strings in the spotlight. With nothing to do with the hands, Dan and Mark banging away on the knees or gesturing as they recount their words.

DIGGING DEEP

The first half of the set presents what might be the less obvious selections, but the ones more suited to this set up. The normally riotous Battle Of The Beanfield becomes more stately to fit with what many might be less familiar. The percussive rhythms of Sitting In The Social strip the sound right back and the Moulette contributions from the assembles Moulettes are given their head. While Believers flows in an easy wash, adding the “anybody out there?” line.

Wheels gets the full circus treatment to match the backdrop. All jaunty and quirky, but like Beanfield, the new arrangement adopts the ‘same picture in a different frame’ vibe. It’s a first half that shows a nouse for building a Levellers Collective set. One that emphasises the mellow and builds until the end of evening encores are full on, balls out, ceilidh stomps.

LEVELLING THE LAND AS ALWAYS

Naturally, there are ‘the hits’ that populate the space that occupies the middle ground of the Venn diagram where the electric meets with the Collective. Those songs which have formed the core of the set for many years past and years to come. The songs that have the Liverpool crowd hollering along, standing with arms aloft in defiance.

The downhill stretch sees their most revered album cherry picked. Dan takes a lead vocal on the tragic Four Boys Lost, pausing the light party feel ever so briefly on a finale sequence that hits the bull with every throw. The crowd pleasers are exactly that. Far From Home and The Road doing the Beautiful Day signature song job. Thirty odd years old but golden oldies always warm the cockles.

Mark often refers to how old the songs are (“even older than us“) yet Dylan’s been subverting his catalogue for years. Good on The Levellers for treading a similar path. They’re in good company.

ALWAYS SEE THE SUPPORT…

…especially when it’s Ian Prowse on his home turf. So a late arrival means we catch ‘most’ of the set which is a well received one. A warm welcome and a crowd that clasp along – what more could a warm up want. There’a strong Celitc tinge to his set with the fiddle and whistle dancing over his guitar and alongside his words. It’s like he’s just stepped off a boat at the docks armed with his songs. With songs like what could be his signature tune Does This Train Stop On Merseyside, he can’t really do too much wrong.

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