Review: Nothing But Thieves at The Resorts World Arena, Birmingham

Welcome to the NEC! Following the release of their fourth album Dead Club City in June, Nothing But Thieves are currently on a UK, Ireland and European tour, including two sold out nights at Wembley arena, which brought them to the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham on Thursday the 9th of November. Playing the largest indoor venues that the country has to offer is a major test for any guitar band but it was plainly clear to anyone who was there that they’re exactly where they should be playing. Lead singer Conor Mason joked during the set that everyone tells him not to make a big deal of playing to crowds of 13,000 but it actually is a massive one to them. It would be understandable if the group were not so humble in the face of such opportunities as they almost effortlessly delivered the perfect arena rock show possible in 2023, which is an unsurprising achievement for one of the most talented and forward-thinking bands around who are as good as anybody when it comes to pushing the genre to today’s limits.

It was also easy to see in person that Conor is one of best vocalists in music today across any genre and one which would be impossible to overpraise. His voice is at times mind-bending and he seems to effortlessly display incredible range, extraordinary falsettos and screams and immeasurable power and control, similar to one of the band’s obvious influences and all-time great vocalist Jeff Buckley. One of the best moments of the whole show was the rendition of Green Eyes :: Siena from Dead Club City, an intimate ballad where Mason enchanted the crowd with minimal accompaniment from the rest of the band.

The songs from Dead Club City were some of the best of the night as they demonstrated the group’s limitless creativity and a huge breadth of styles, bridging the rest of their discography. The uneasy, dystopian feel of Pop The Balloon is a further development of previous songs like Phobia and Unperson which reflect a similar jittery agitation and tracks like Overcome and Welcome To The DCC replicate the fast-paced rock sound that is more typical of the band but with a distinctive dance and synth-based twist. This could be seen on another level in the 80s sheen of Do You Love Me Yet? which was introduced as the new single from a fictional band called The Zeros on Dead Club Radio, which played hits from a variety of genres before the band came out. The song is laden with glimmering synths and strings but was far from out of place and was one of the most exciting and impressive tracks that they performed. These new and innovative songs being mixed in with the band’s older hits like Trip Switch, Sorry and Impossible made a perfect setlist that cohesively blended a mixture of styles from all four of their albums and two of their EPs.

One of the other standout highlights of the performance was the production which focused around five floor-to-ceiling columns that were lit with striking scenes of cityscapes, giant orange figures in City Haunts, distorted live footage of the band and colourful geometric patterns. The use of such high-level visual elements is one of the best parts about arena shows and in this instance, they gave the performance another alluring element that added to the immersion of the experience.

Nothing But Thieves are a band who have everything going for them: endless creativity, a uniquely talented singer, high-quality song writing and clear influence from a host of great acts alongside a truly modern sound and outlook. It was hugely satisfying to see them headline a large-scale venue and let loose with a comprehensive setlist featuring all of their best tracks, following a summer of festival slots that didn’t quite do justice to their talent or ability to captivate an audience. Dead Club City is one of best records of the year and was the band’s first to reach number one in the UK, which hopefully is a sign of even bigger things to come and that more and more people will know just how good Nothing But Thieves are.