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New Model Army celebrates its 44 yearsth anniversary with his last album Intact and an international tour. This tour is special with support from 90's chart toppers, Ned's Atomic Dustbin. The Stourbridge-formed quintet provided uninterrupted high-speed power for their scheduled hour from the start. Leader John Penney impressed with his lively, elegant and youthful movements.
By the time headliners New Model Army took to the stage, Ned's Atomic Dustbin had provided Camden Roundhouse with extra energy and warmth for the crowd on this exceptionally sunny day. Dressed in black, New Model Army looked like a metal band. While there has never been a consensus on what genre New Model Army falls into, the first three opening songs were heavy, classic rock. The political aspect of these songs added adrenaline, especially the new song “First Summer After” “…about the workers” adding unity, emotion and naturally more warmth to the place.
New Model Army's sound became louder and harsher with “If I Am Still Me,” which saw the band jump into metal territory. At this point, frontman Justin Sullivan, the band's only original member, warned that Blue Oyster Cult's “Don't Fear the Reaper” is “the best song about death.” As New Model Army's sound grew stronger, the political elements of the songs excited fans more when “225” echoed scenes from “1984” and when new song “Reload” lashed out at capitalism with the letter. “It's just debt that drips.”
At 68, Justin Sullivan proved he could still sing and master the loud BPM cacophonies of his current material and his four-decade back catalogue. Sullivan also realized the need to include slower, haunting anthems with strong tribal kick drums like “Winter.” However, New Model Army fans were more than happy with the played song “Get Me Out,” which embraced Motörhead's metal style on the outro.
With a brief power outage of four tenths, Sullivan used this time to criticize Brexit and that European places had better air conditioning. Regarding current world events, Sullivan exercised common sense and avoided encouraging misguided vitriolic acts by saying “I'm not going to give big speeches about what's happening in the world that you don't already know.”.
New Model Army demonstrated that music can be overtly political and deeply critical of the status quo without making any audience member feel vulnerable. With collective inhibitions removed, New Model Army allowed its fans to enjoy its music and lyrics in a safe and non-judgmental environment.
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