Levellers Tour Diary: in 3 parts

Reading, The Hexagon

The Levellers Anti-Apathy Tour proves once again that this is a band who can endure - despite being virtually ignored by the mainstream music press (unless it's another scathing NME review - seemingly designed solely to taunt Jeremy into another dirty postal protest). They attract a hugely eclectic and loyal fanbase - from teenagers to pensioners - who are genuinely enthused by The Levellers infectious folk-rock and their often political, but always poignant, lyrics. The band have clung to their roots, not changing their sound to pander to popularity and it is surely this which inspires such loyalty. The Levellers playing live is to the gig circuit as Cats and Les Miserabelles are to London's Theater-Land...worth coming back time and time again! As the organisers of VF's favourite festival last Summer, Beautiful Days, they show us that it is possible to punch through the commercialism that pervades so much in the music scene and get back to the basic values that once-upon-a-time really did exist.

The days of The Levellers' frenetic moshpits may be on the wane, but from the start of their first song, 'Fifteen Years', the Reading crowd are dancing and singing like loons. The floor at the front is vibrating so hard that our photographer was lucky to get any shots in focus! The band are full of infectious joy as usual - they may have played these songs thousands of time before, but each time somehow manages to sound like the first time. Mark banters with the crowd, commenting on the endless calls for 'One Way' with a simple "later". Jeremy is leaping about the stage in his usual frenzied way, dreads flying around him - somehow always manging to keep those long locks out of his bass; Jon bounces on the spot wrapt in the task of playing those impossibly fast and frantic violin riffs.

The set list is also refreshingly different tonight. Old favourites sit well with less often played tunes, and some seem to have new arrangements, although the essential elements remain intact. Although sometimes dismissed off-hand as hippies, crusties or post-new age, The Levellers can really rock with the best of them. The guitars are fast and furious in tracks like 'Liberty', 'Dirty Davey' and 'Fifteen Years' while the relentless violin gives them a fresh edge not seen in other rock bands. The Levellers take the best of rock, folk and punk and mix them together in a completely innovative, sometimes quirky and always infectious way. Slower tracks like 'Another Man's Cause', 'Pretty target' and 'Too Real' provide us with welcome moments to get our breath back and listen to the eerily haunting lyrics.

All too soon The Lev's have left the stage and we are waiting for the inevitable encore. The lights dim and the fluorescantly painted face of Stephen Boakes appears, today in a sort of tartan pyjama set, with a feather boa, and the strangely primitive and eerie sounds of the didgeredoo echo around the venue. It's not often you see a didge played during a rock gig, but with the Lev's this is just another quirk that they have made their own and  fit so aptly into their sound. The band return for the obvious encore of 'One Way'. Boakes is now cavorting around the stage, duelling with Simon and Jeremy and making them all laugh. They play a blinding version of the crowd favourite 'Liberty' before coming back without Charlie to do a final encore.

They end with the stunningly beautiful and haunting ballad 'Wake the World', it's poignant lyrics have us all singing along. Mark encourages the crowd to wave lighters in the air before being reminded it is a No smoking venue, he laughs and takes it back, all the while both he and Simon are smoking away on stage! This is a perfect end to an awesome gig. The Levellers at their best are difficult to beat and here they have really excelled themselves.

It looks like Beautiful Days 2004 will once again be the festival of the Summer!