The Enemy

O2 Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland 22nd October 2022

In October of 2021, during his solo show at the HMV Empire in Coventry, Tom Clarke was joined on stage by his ex-bandmates, as he announced a comeback gig on 28 October 2021.

The following day, the band announced a full UK reunion tour to celebrate 15 years of their debut album, “We’ll Live and Die in These Towns“.

The Enemy (known as The Enemy UK in the United States) is an English indie rock band formed in Coventry in 2006. The band’s debut album We’ll Live and Die in These Towns (2007) went straight to Number 1 in the UK Albums Chart.

Their second album Music for the People (2008) went to Number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. Streets in the Sky, their third studio album, was released on 21 May 2012 and was also their third UK top 10 album. Their fourth studio album, It’s Automatic, was released on 9 October 2015.

After disbanding in 2016, frontman Tom Clarke announced that the band would be splitting up for the foreseeable future, citing a multitude of reasons such as personal health issues, fatherhood and lack of exposure.

the crowd were treated to two outstanding support acts, Wide Eyed Boy and Little Man Tate who both performed brilliantly warming the crowd who packed into the O2 Academy venue in Edinburgh who by this time were all jumping around with chants of Here we Fucking Go!

The Enemy took to the stage Andy Hopkins moved forward on the stage engaging with the crowd often raising aloft his guitar as would Tom Clarke.

It was hard to see that they have been away for so long as their energy and active and sound were on point ad you would not have thought they had been away for 6 years, having already performed in Glasgow, Tom Clarke often testing the Edinburgh crowd to see if they would meet the noise of the Glasgow crowd and they didn’t disappoint, they were absolutely buzzing as the band performed with ‘Aggro ‘, ‘Away From Here’ and ‘Pressure’ a great set of hit songs to start . This was one of the best concerts I have had the pleasure to attend and cannot wait until their next tour.

Line-up

• Tom Clarke – lead vocals, guitar, piano, and strings on the album
• Andy Hopkins – bass guitar, vocals
• Liam Watts – drums

Setlist

SETLIST  

1. Aggro
2. Away From Here
3. Pressure
4. Had Enough
5. We’ll Live and Die in These Towns
6. You’re Not Alone
7. It’s Not OK
8. Technodanceaphobic
9. 40 Days & 40 Nights
10. This Song
11. Happy Birthday Jane
12. Be Somebody
13. Gimme the Sign / Saturday
14. No Time for Tears
15. This Song [Reprise]

It was a truly spectacular night of music and entertainment, and truly great they are back together and just hope we see them on the bigger stages, it would be fantastic if they were to see them on stage at some of the festivals in 2023.

Photo Credit: Martin Bone