Editors at Wembley Arena

I went to this gig at Wembley Arena with a couple of senior members the Firm, but as I don't work Fridays I could turn up as early as I liked. So I went not long after 6, which turned out to be ridiculously early as the support act didn't come on until 8. As you can see this cavernous venue was almost empty.

 And very cold. It really is just a warehouse with cement floors.

But unsurprisingly, a few real diehard fans turned up at the beginning so I took up a place and chatted to them. One guy had seen Editors 15 times, only to be approached by a  Finnish bloke who had seen them 25 times. I mean I am keen but...

And then there was Oscar who had Editors and White Lies tattooed on his forearm. Devotion for you.

Still Pippa and James made it in time to witness the support act, Whispering Sons. Bit of research by Pippa on the spot determined that they were a Belgian punk band - I had placed the lead singers accent as Scottish or American. Close! Now I certainly wouldn't have described then as punk. Actually much more like a Goth band in sound.

Trouble is I did rather like the music, but absolutely hated the vocals. The female lead singer who sounded very pleasant when introducing, had a deep growling "singing" voice. If you were not watching you would never think it was female voice at all. And with that voice her white blouse and trouser suit gave the impression of a straitjacket. Basically she was really quite scary in a demonic sort of way.

And then on to Editors. This was effectively a greatest hits tour for them and they played a very long set - two hours. And it was truly wonderful. Lead vocalist Tom Smith is pretty intense and offers a quite manic performance on stage.  Unlike the support band, he doesn't feel scary. Rather you feel you want to stay with him until he gets the medical attention he deserves....

Ignoring for a moment the songs (which are extraordinary) there are a few observations I would make about Tom and the band. One is that he has a fabulous voice - a massive vocal range and really strong. Another point which I mentioned to my colleagues is that he is doing the opposite to the majority of us who add girth with age. He seems to be getting skinnier and more lithe.

The band are in what to my mind is a halcyon period. They have stayed together, they are now in late thirties and so, like say the Vaccines, they are still young enough to provide an energetic stage performance, but now with a large back catalogue and just a well-practised professionalism to offer their fans.

This was just an entrancing gig starting aptly with "An End has a Start" and including all our favourites from the years, along with new tracks on their greatest hits album like Frankenstein and Upside Down. Just excellent throughout.