Modern English have been here in the states doing a run of dates ahead of the release of their upcoming album 1 2 3 4 which is due to come out in early 2024. The tour stopped in Smithfield, North Carolina on September 29, 2023 at the Johnston Community College Performing Arts at the Paul A. Johnston Auditorium. It was a beautiful auditorium, small and very intimate. There was no opening act, so Modern English hit the stage at 7:30. Lead vocalist Robbie Grey went over to the edge of the stage and motioned for the crowd to move forward, closer to the stage. Then, the party began! The setlist spanned their career, but focused heavily on After The Snow album with six songs from the album being played. The band also included three new tracks (“Long In The Tooth,” “Crazy Lovers” and “Not My Leader”) from their upcoming album. “Hands Across The Sea” and “I Melt With You” were saved to close out their set. Robbie invited fans up on-stage to dance during “I Melt With You.” They returned for a one song encore and played “Swans On Glass” which was originally released in 1979. The crowd was really into the show as many were seen dancing and singing along to the songs. Original member Mick Conroy was on bass and he was joined by Gabriel Sullivan on guitar and Ric Chandler on drums.  The newer material that was played has a bit of a raw sound to it which may take some of us back to the band’s 1981 debut album Mesh and Lace. This lineup also manages to give a lot of the older material that same rawness. There’s an edge to the songs that I don’t think I’ve heard on other tours and it sounded really cool. Here’s a band who has been doing this for over 40 years and they seem to have a new found sense of urgency in their music. They are sounding better than ever and much better than some recent shows that we have covered. This show was so much fun and if you didn’t get to see them, they are coming back in early 2024 to continue promoting the new album. Hearing the three new songs live makes me even more anxious to hear the rest of the album!

Review & Pix: I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price