Nostalgia is on-trend in 2025. For sure…. Especially The Britpop era acts. Pulp are back. Blur came back. Oasis are well and truly back. Suede and Sleeper, and more, are back.
So too is Echobelly, and fans new and old are flocking to shows on their 14-date tour that celebrates 30 years since the release of their 1995 album “ON” – and last night [Sunday 12th October] the half way point of this UK trek reached Southampton.
The Engine Rooms was not far off full; maybe close to 700 in there; young and not so young fans there to hear the band’s second album, “ON” – a UK top five chart hit – played live in its entirety by original singer Sonya Madan and original guitarist Glenn Johansson, and their more recent band mate recruits. They slung in their biggest hits for good measure too.
Before the tour, which kicked off in Manchester on 2nd October and closes in Nottingham on 8th December, Sonya said: “We’re really excited about the chance to play ‘ON’ in its entirety. A celebration of its 30 years of existence. It’s a special journey for us and a chance to celebrate it with all who come to see us on this tour.”
Glenn added: “It’ll be a personal re-discovery of a very special time in our musical career. Everything was in front of us and we were thrilled to experience the excitement and be part of that era. ‘ON’ is considered as one of the top seminal Britpop albums and we’re really excited to bring it back out to audiences.”
Echobelly have loyal fans in this city and were last here only a few months ago in June as part of the Summer Sessions at The Guildhall, with Ocean Colour Scene and Cast.
Tonight’s support was Babybird, aka Stephen Jones and two pals, of the number three chart hit fame “You’re Gorgeous” from 1995.
That is a good song with a lovely hook, but the short set tonight was a tough listen with sharp/flat backing vocals. Maybe the singer had monitoring issues, but the bar’s profits seemingly benefited!
Back to Echobelly: Madonna wanted to sign the band to her own “Maverick” record label back in the day, but they were tied contractually elsewhere and that idea was scuppered.
Sonya was no two bob here-today-gone-tomorrow pop singer; she had a unique sound and quality to her vocals – “soulful and powerful”. Madonna was a big admirer.
So how has Sonya’s voice fared across the decades? Simple answer, she sounds fabulous. A smile to melt ice cream. Beaming for most of the set, you can tell she loves this job. At 58, she looks much younger and I want some of that secret potion please, Sonya!
Born in India, she moved to England at a young age. The seeds were sown for Echobelly when she met Glenn Johansson in the early 1990s in a pub and they bonded over their mutual love of The Smiths. They formed Echobelly in 1992.
Debut album, “Everyone’s Got One” dropped in 1994. It was their second album, “ON” a year later, recorded at The Kinks’ famed studio Konk in North London, that really launched their career with a # four spot in the UK chart – which featured hit singles “Great Things” and “King of the Kerb.”
The LP was produced by Americans Sean Slade and Paul Kolderie, who had also produced Hole and Radiohead.
The album “Lustra” came out in 1997, then three more albums followed: “People Are Expensive” in 2001, “Gravity Pulls” in 2004 and “Anarchy and Alchemy” in 2017, plus three compilations.
During their hiatus between 2004 and 2009, ,Sonya pursued acting with some television work and also spent time writing. Echobelly reformed in 2009.
Tonight Echobelly sounded pretty mighty from the off; opening with the cut that opens the “ON” album “Car Fiction”, then the superb “King of the Kerb” [# 25 single in 1995] which is usually a staple of their encore and was greeted with a raucous roar here tonight.
Glenn wrote the music to “King Of The Kerb” in the back of the tour bus and the band rehearsed it during soundchecks.
As a student Sonya had lived in Soho, London over the road from two strip clubs and got to know some of the strippers and characters that would frequent the joints. “I was fascinated by their lives and how different they were from my own. The lyrics for ‘King Of The Kerb’ were a fantasy-fuelled homage to how I thought they lived.”
Setlist
Car Fiction
King of the Kerb
Great Things
Natural Animal
Go Away
Pantyhose and Roses
Something Hot in a Cold Country
Four Letter Word
Nobody Like You
In the Year
Dark Therapy
Worms and Angels
Close…But
On Turn On
Aloha Lolita
Atom
Scream
Encore:
Father, Ruler, King, Computer
I Can’t Imagine the World Without Me
Next up tonight, “Great Things” [# eight in 1995], the first single from the album and tonight re-establishing not only how strong “On” was as a cohesive project, but how accomplished Sonya’s lyricism was.
The 19-song set, including the brace in the encore was perfectly paced and structured. For many, “Dark Therapy” [February 1996 a UK # 20 single] was a highlight of the night, arriving 11th into the set.
“Atom” and “Scream” closed proceedings before they returned to the stage for the well deserved and demanded encore: “Father, Ruler, King, Computer” and the sparkling gem that is “I Can’t Imagine The World Without Me”, a top 40 chart track in June 1994.
Their performance tonight was faultless; good enough and powerful enough to deserve an arena gig, but this venue on an industrial estate in this port city was far more intimate and a perfect room for us to wallow in the memories triggered by this voice, this band, these songs.
A treat for those of us old enough to have been around when Echobelly were the darlings of the UK music business and media, when Sonya graced magazine covers all over the place and when likes of Madonna and R.E.M. praised them.
For the younger fans here tonight who may well have discovered Echobelly via trendy on-line playlists or among “Best Ever Indie Tracks/Bands” compilations, they’ll surely remember this gig for a long time. But this band are not done yet creatively just yet methinks, and I’d hope we can expect new music in the future. Please…
Photos by Liam Battersby
Words by Emma Ledwell
