Billy Bragg / Rock City / Nottingham

Summer 1983, I’d just turned 15 and was forming my view of the world around me, and music was a hugely important part of that journey for me. None more so, than a young Billy Bragg and his new album “Life’s a Riot with Spy vs Spy”. That album was played and played and played and I knew all the songs by heart, and with the likes of Latin Quarter, The Levellers and the late, great Johnny Clegg & Savuka I formed the views I still hold today. The last time I saw Billy live was on the Red Wedge tour in 1986 (I believe) alongside Paul Weller and The The. What was so inspiring was his heartfelt belief in equality, women’s rights and the alleviation of poverty.

Well, somehow, here we are, 40 years later and heading to Rock City for the “Roary Forty” tour. How ?

There’s no support act tonight, this is all about Billy Bragg and celebrating his career, and before the main performance the crowd enjoy a 40min short film of old and rare clips on Billy on tour, in interviews and on TV. Rock City is packed to the rafters, and there isn’t a spare inch of floor space. As the credits roll at the end of the film, out walks Billy to rapturous applause.

The years may have rolled on by, but Billy Bragg’s voice is as strong today as ever. The set opens with

The Wolf Covers Its Tracks which is followed by The World Turned Upside Down. Billy addresses and welcomes the crowd and makes light of how long he’s been going and the age difference in the audience. Billy has a brilliant way with words, and comes over as engaging and genuinely funny. The hard edged, raw, and angry Billy Bragg has given way to a warm character who still believes wholeheartedly in many things, but can eloquently get his message over through song and words.

On the track Sexuality the lyrics have been changed up and refreshed to encompass the issues faced by trans people. The message is as powerful as ever – that the issues and threats that women face, are also what trans women face, and it all comes from the same source – male violence, and there can be no place for that.

Ecology and the destruction of our planet is also close to Billy’s heart as he explains before King Tide and the Sunny Day Flood he explains the impact we are having on the oceanic world.

The set is littered with classics, such as Levi Stubbs' Tears, and Which Side Are You On? (from the 1984 album “Brewing Up with Billy Bragg” as poignant today as it was 40 years ago, about the miners strike and the Government changing the law to break the strikes with lyrics such as “This government had an idea, And parliament made it law. It seems like it's illegal, To fight for the union any more”. It’s a call to activism, to stand together and act as one “I'm bound to follow my conscience, And do whatever I can. But it'll take much more than the union law, To knock the fight out of a working man”. It still sends chills down my spine 40 years later.

Perhaps the highlight of the set was a beautiful cover of Woody Guthrie’s icon track, first recorded back in 1944 All You Fascists Are Bound to Lose. It’s a track Billy could have written himself and is delivered with pride and passion “Race hatred cannot stop us, This one thing we know. Your poll tax and Jim Crow, And greed has got to go. You’re bound to lose, You fascists bound to lose”. The vocals may be more mellow, but the message is as powerful as ever.

The main set draws to a close with Waiting for the Green Leap Forwards. But we have one more surprise.

That album, that I loved so much ? Well here we are, 40 years later and a little bonus as Billy performs the full album “Life’s a Riot with Spy vs Spy” in full. Opening track The Busy Girl Buys Beauty has the capacity crowd singing along in full voice. My favourite song on the album is performed with great emotion The Man in the Iron Mask named after the famous literary character, the iron mask here a metaphor for the mechanism, which the narrator hides his hurt, knowing his partner is cheating, but holding on to hope and accepting a lesser role to be with them. It hits hard and the audience listen in silence. The Milkman of Human Kindness and To Have and to Have Not are largely left to the crowd to sing to, Billy smiling and loving every second of it.

The album, and the night ends with the iconic and beautiful A New England made famous by the late, great Kirsty McColl. It’s a fitting and stunning end to the night.

Billy Bragg delivered a stunning set, showcasing the breadth of his archive. The grown up and mature Billy is as engaging as his youthful self, and in many ways, with a softer voice, it’s a performance for the ages. Here’s to the next 40 Billy !