Elbow’s Guy Garvey: ‘Robert Smith said listening to us was like learning a new language

Elbow’s Guy Garvey says fans can expect a guest appearance at their Teenage Cancer Trust show at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday (Picture: Stephen Keable/Shutterstock) Elbow kick off this year’s series of Metro-backed Teenage Cancer Trust shows – and they have a firm fan in The Cure’s Robert Smith. The iconic frontman, who has picked Garbage, Manic Street Preachers, Mogwai, my bloody valentine, and Wolf Alice, for this year’s gigs, championed the Mancunian rock heroes early in their career, says Guy Garvey. He told Metro: ‘I remember when we were in the studio doing our second album, which was stereotypically difficult. ‘It’s one of those things where you spent ten years trying to get the album off the floor, and then you do, and then the second one has got to be as good or better. It’s a lot of pressure. ‘Robert Smith was in a magazine article in Q on what he was listening to. He said he was listening to Elbow, and that it was like learning a new language, which was just the most amazing compliment I think we’ve ever had. Monday’s Teenage Cancer Trust show will be Elbow’s first time performing at The Royal Albert Hall (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest) ‘It’s right up there with John Cale making us one of his Desert Island Discs. It meant so much at the time because we were having so much trouble with the record. Everybody’s shoulders dropped, and everybody got behind the wheel in a really positive way.’ And if Mr Smith himself wasn’t enough to lavish praise on Garvey and co, they have another fan in one of the most influential musicians in history. He added: ‘I think it was like 2004 or 2005 when John Cale made us a Desert Island Disc, and then down the line, Paul McCartney sent us an email once, just out of the blue, saying that he loved our song Magnificent.‘I’m not just going off on who enjoys Elbow’s music. To get the nod from somebody respected as much as Robert Smith can see through the dark tea-times of the soul.’ Elbow kick off the iconic series of gigs, before Mogwai, Manic Street Preachers, my bloody valentine, Garbage, and Wolf Alice take to the stage (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest) Monday’s gig will be the first time Elbow has graced the legendary Royal Albert Hall, and Guy promises a night to remember. He told Metro: ‘We were supposed to be having a little bit of a writing break but when Robert Smith rings, you don’t ignore the call. ‘We’ve tried to make a Teenage Cancer Trust gig over the years but we always seem to be busy this time of year. It’s a privilege being a part of it. ‘It’s one of those iconic buildings. We played Sydney Opera House. We did two nights there almost 10 years ago. Elbow appear alongside Wolf Alice, the Manics, Garbage, and more for Robert Smith’s curated Teenage Cancer Trust series of shows (Picture: Teenage Cancer Trust) ‘It’s not lost on you. I don’t believe in the spooky, but you can’t help but feel lifted up by an experience like that. When you think about who’s played in there in every genre music, it’s a big one for sure. It will suit us. ‘There might be a guest appearance.  Opening for us is this amazing band MRCY, who are just the most terrific, energetic, positive, love-filled, amazing soul funk band.  I know Barney Lister from MRCY because he uses the same studios as I do in Brixton. ‘And then we’ve got our friend Sean Keaveney compering for the night – it’s going to be a great, big love-in!’ Elbow play the Teenage Cancer Trust series of shows at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday, March 23, supported by MRCY. Good Energy exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall (Picture: Teenage Cancer Trust) Some of the biggest acts around will help raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust in a new art and print exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall. The Good Energy exhibit will be launched today (March 18) until April 9 alongside the series of shows. There will be 21 limited-edition silk screen prints chosen by the likes of Fontaines DC, Geese, The 1975, Wolf Alice, Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Keane, The Kooks, Elbow, Nick Cave, and more. The collection is aimed at capturing the share experience of live music between artist and fan, positioning the ‘most put’ not as a place of chaos, but as a sanctuary of safety and community. Tom Chaplin – Keane Keane’s Top Chaplin salutes fans at a show in Birmingham in 2024 (Picture: Jon Stone/Teenage Cancer Trust) Can you tell us about that moment depicted in your photo? Background to it, where it was, how it felt, the connection with the audience? This captures a moment late on at our 2024 show in Birmingham. We had designed a special T-shaped stage that spread out into the audience, so that for the last few songs, the band could be playing right in amongst our wonderful fans. There’s something magical about being in an arena but being out in the audience – both personal and communal at the same time. Do you have a memory of a Good Energy moment from gigs as a fan? Maybe your first mosh pit or crowdsurf, the first time you felt that connection inside an audience and what it felt like? I went to see Radiohead last November at the 02. There was so much anticipation for the show and it really didn’t disappoint. In fact, the years that have passed since they were last out and about have further cemented their incredible collection of albums in my heart. I stood through the gig in a sense of awe and joy. I will still thinking about the show for days after it. Why do you think some gigs just have that Good Energy that lifts everyone up? How does it feel when it happens in front of you and is there something the artist can do to conjure it? Music is such a mysterious gift for us all. There’s no reason for a bunch of sounds to resonate and evoke these feelings in us – but it does! I suppose that a gig is the most visceral form of that, bringing the audience and the creators together in one place. I often feel like the magic moments are very hard to pin down – it’s like everybody in the room ascends to some higher state! Luke Pritchard – The Kooks The Kooks following their show at the Ancienne Belgique, Brussels. (Picture: Sterling Chandler/Teenage Cancer Trust) Can you tell us about that moment depicted in your photo? Background to it, where it was, how it felt, the connection with the audience? This was Brussels, on the Never Know European tour but what made it particularly special was that it also happens to be the 20th anniversary of Inside In/Inside Out this year. Twenty years ago we were just teenagers and made this record and now we are playing those songs to people who have grown up with them. We played some new stuff too which always feels like a leap of faith, you’re asking the audience to come with you somewhere they haven’t been yet. But Brussels gave us that. The energy in that room was extraordinary. Do you have a memory of a Good Energy moment from gigs as a fan? The first gig I ever went to was Chuck Berry. I must have been about nine or ten. And I saw him do the duck walk, iconic. It wasn’t just music, it was theatre, it was personality and it was pure joy coming off the stage. I think that planted something in me permanently. I’ve never really been a mosh pit person, that’s not where I find the energy. For me it’s always been about that connection between the performer and the room and that invisible thread. Chuck Berry had it completely. Maybe your first mosh pit or crowdsurf, the first time you felt that connection inside an audience and what it felt like? I’ve done my fair share of crowd surfing and wild shows but something memorable to me is from before we’d released anything, the four of us went to Glastonbury together as punters. Just kids. And something happened when we got that feeling of standing in a field with thousands of strangers and you all feel the same thing at the same time, that’s a kind of magic that’s very hard to explain to someone who hasn’t felt it. I think going through that together bonded us in a way that carried us through a lot of difficult years later. We knew what we were chasing. We’d already felt it. Why do you think some gigs just have that Good Energy that lifts everyone up? How does it feel when it happens in front of you and is there something the artist can do to conjure it? I’ve thought about this a lot, and I genuinely don’t think you can force it but I do think you can create the conditions for it. There’s also something about the collective permission to let go when one person raises their arms, someone else does and suddenly the whole room has decided together to be fully present. As an artist I think the best thing you can do is go first. Be the most open person in the building. Give them something real and they’ll give it back tenfold. Frank Carter – currently with Sex Pistols Frank Carter crowd surfs during Sex Pistol’s performance at the Royal Albert Hall (Picture: Teenage Cancer Trust) Can you tell us about that moment depicted in your photo? Background to it, where it was, how it felt, the connection with the audience? The picture was taken in the legendary Royal Albert Hall. I honestly never thought I would have a chance to play such an iconic venue and to play there with the Sex Pistols was a dream come true. Seeing a mosh pit inside such a prestigious venue felt like the definition of Good Punk Energy and before I had time to reconsider I dived in.  Do you have a memory of a Good Energy moment from gigs as a fan? Maybe your first mosh pit or crowdsurf, the first time you felt that connection inside an audience and what it felt like? Recently I saw Wolf Alice play in London and from the front to the back the dancefloor was full of good energy. It was a joy to be part of and to see my friends playing on that stage with smiles on their faces made me feel very blessed. Why do you think some gigs just have that Good Energy that lifts everyone up? How does it feel when it happens in front of you and is there something the artist can do to conjure it? There is so much misery and suffering in the modern world people want a chance to escape. When the crowd comes with the same energy as the band on stage and everyone moves as one… that’s where the best energy is born and it moves everyone present. It’s a gift to be part of that and is the reason why we do what we do.