The Enemy - Live at Bristol Academy, 1st October 2022

Although now unfairly maligned as ‘landfill indie’ – which inevitably led to them being lumped alongside the likes of The Fratellis and The Pigeon Detectives – Coventry’s The Enemy actually started life as social commentators in the vein of The Jam, Blur or The Clash.

Furthermore, their debut album – 2007’s We’ll Live And Die In These Towns – had quite the impact 15 years ago; UK Number 1 with a Thriller-esque seven singles were lifted from it, as well as impressive support slots and shows of their own.

Unfortunately, that debut proved to be a one-off, with no subsequent release coming anywhere near the quality or impact. Indeed, time has not been kind to The Enemy, and nowadays the trio (expanded to a quartet onstage) are regarded as little more than a ‘lad’s band’ which, based on the demographic of the crowd for this sold-out show, isn’t entirely unfair.

Yet this tour (billed as a reunion but based around playing the first album in full) offers the opportunity for reappraisal (as these things often do) even if we are now at the stage of reunion gigs for bands you didn’t know had broken up in the first place.

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/10/review-the-enemy-bristol/