Last night, Valencia witnessed an unplifting show by ‘The Lightning Seeds’ at a packed ‘Sala Moon.’ The vibe was really positive throughout the night and there was a good range of ages in the audience, which befits a band who became famous in the 1990s. Indeed, there was a healthy mixture of locals and expats and it was cool to see so many familiar faces too. A master of guitar-based pop, Ian Broudie and his band received a warm welcome on the Mediterranean coast and it turned out to be a really memorable concert that lived up to expectations. With a plethora of melodic tunes to choose from, you can see that ‘The Lightning Seeds’ have a lot of fun together playing live together on stage and they transmit that joy to the audience too.

We were treated to so many timeless songs like ‘Marvellous’ and ‘Perfect’ and ‘Emily Smiles’ and ‘Sugar Iceberg’ to name just a few.  These songs form part of the soundtrack to people’s lives…and they know all the words too. Indeed, some might say that ‘The Life of Riley’ seems like a fitting song for expats from rainy countries now living in sunny Spain!

On top of that, Ian and Riley Broudie are a father & son team and have a great telepathy when it comes to the ‘art of weaving’ their vintage electric guitars with choice chords, tasty riffs and fills…always ready to serve the song first, for hit after hit.

With flowing locks of hair like lions of rock’n’roll, the rhythm section on bass and drums was damn solid… and kept the momentum of the set going from the very beginning to the end.

On keyboards, ‘Adèle Dominique Emmas’ added hooks & textures that really lifted the grooves and she created atmospheres that added other colours to already melodic songs. She is a talented young soundtrack composer in her own right and it is worth checking out her work on Spotify.

For the encore, ‘The Lightning Seeds’ got the willing crowd to sing along to a cover of ‘Be My Baby’ by The Ronettes before leaving their most famous hits  ‘Pure’ and ‘3 Lions’ for a storming and emotional finale.

Out of the blue, towards the end of the concert, a friendly fan walked onto the stage… dressed all in red… to say hello to Ian. Perchance, was she a Liverpool fan from Merseyside now living in Spain?  It was a spontaneous and joyous moment during a unique night of live music that will live on in the memory. Like the title of one of their songs, this was a ‘Sunshine’ concert of classic pop to lift your spirits as autumn looms. Here’s hoping that ‘The Lightning Seeds’ will be back again in Valencia one day.

Report by Will McCarthy

Article copyright ‘24/7 Valencia’

‘The Lightning Seeds’ photos copyright Rhyan Paul/ 24/7 Valencia

More about the photographer: rhyanpaul.com