“We are old, we are young, we are in this together” and Holmfirth certainly united as one solid front to come out and see New Model Army tonight.

The floor of the Picturedrome was accented with a respectable number of souls for openers Zen Baseball Bat and as they progressed through their set it and surrounding balconies could be seen filling up with some speed and momentum as the five piece enthusiastically delivered their brand of ska rock to West Yorkshire. The energy from the stage was palpable and the tunes seemed to be lapped up with pleasure and acceptance from the amassing crowd beneath them.

A definite nod to the Ska movement could be found within the chords and synth offshoots and it verged almost on a cross between Carter USM and the Pet Shop Boys but with a huge Madness and The Specials overflowing core.

As the stage was cleared and prepped for Sullivan et al, the Picturedrome was now pretty much crammed to the rafters. Every inch of the floor seemed to accommodate an eagerly waiting body on which various faded shirts from across the 40 glorious years of NMA’s existence were draped.

The spotlights were illuminated, and as the house lights dropped, on walked the Local Heroes, New Model Army, to one almighty roar and then the celebrations began. With acoustic guitar in hand, Sullivan led us into the proceedings, and the band carved us open to ‘End Of Days’ which then led effortlessly into ‘The Charge’ which saw bodies sitting proudly atop of shoulders, reminiscent of attentive meercats, each prominent lone soldier enthusiastically mimicked each note with animated and passionate movements.

The set progressed emotionally and intensely, tracks from albums spanning the 40 years of the band’s existence were delivered from the stage with pride and power throughout. Bodies popped up sporadically throughout the set to conduct the band from their lofty positions in the crowd, some sights even saw bodies on top of shoulders, on top of shoulders, with even the bravest stood at what must have been fifteen feet in the air with a structure of bodies beneath them.

Crowd favourites saw the whole venue singing every word back at the band, ‘Lust For Power’, ‘Vanity’, ‘Poison Street’ and ‘Closer I Love The World’ were particularly raucous and zealous with the band visibly loving every moment on the stage, and being able to spend the evening with the collected congregation before them.

Tonight had some firm favourites missing from the set tonight. There was no ‘Green And Grey’, ‘Purity’, ‘Vagabonds’, ‘Stupid Questions’, ‘51st State’ or ‘No Rest’. As much as these were conspicuous by their absence, the set did cram in tracks from ten albums of their career, and it was good to hear some of the less obvious tracks get an airing in Holmfirth tonight.

As the doors opened to reveal the crisp evening outside, the Picturedrome attendees all left in audible high spirits with tonight obviously being a massive resounding success. As always New Model Army did not disappoint, the only disappointment which may be a real threat is that it may just take NMA too long to grace this venue once more.

Review and Photos Phil Pountney