Still Fighting

Sabres Of Paradise took the stage in Fabric at 9pm on Thursday night to sirens and red spotlights, the first date they've played in 30 years, and a re- union that is missing the main man, Andrew Weatherall. Jagz Kooner, red shirt, black suit and tie, is behind a large console. To his right Gary Burns and a bank of keyboards and synths and beyond him Phil Mossman, guitar and bowler hat. To Jagz's left, Rich Thair with drums, congas, cymbals, black hat and Palestinian flag on his chest and next to him Nick Abnett, black suit, bass guitar, sharp haircut. They look ready to go. The trip hop drums of Tow Truck rumble in and we're off, Haunted Dancehall reborn for 2025, the track being reconstructed in front of us, transforming into the Depth Charge remix (another missing man tonight- J Saul Kane died last year). 

Tow Truck (Depth Charge Mix II)

Fabric is in Farringdon, a cavernous venue with several rooms all below ground level and a warren of connecting corridors and staircases. The room Sabres are playing is low ceilinged and dark, lit only by red lights, and feels industrial- it's perfect for the bass- led, swampy Sabres sound, the tracks filling the space. The room is packed with fans, friends and family, everyone willing Sabres on. Three tracks in Theme snaps into place, the horn sample and massive drums bouncing off the walls and Phil Mossman's gnarly guitar cutting through. Theme takes us into the bumpy, rough edged dub of Edge 6, these three decade old tracks sounding electrified and alive, not exactly the same as the recorded versions but retooled and remade on stage. 

Having felt their way in, the band and the room step up a gear with Wilmot, Nick Abnett's bassline working its magic and the horn riff snaking around. Jagz at the centre and always busy, his Cheshire Cat grin showing how much they're enjoying it. After Wilmot the chimes of the Beatless version of Smokebelch ring out, twinkling synths and piano. I have a long and intimate history with this track- we played it at the graveside at Isaac's funeral- and I'm sure I'm not the only one with tears in their eyes as Gary and Jagz play their blissed out ambient serenade. 

The second half of the gig is a stunner, energy levels raised, crowd and band in sync. The Ballad Of Nicky Maguire comes next- acid squiggles and burps, chunky drums, metallic dub clanks and eventually those long, melancholy chords, a track that as much as any seemed like the soundtrack to the James Woodbourne noir novel excerpts from Haunted Dancehall's inner sleeve (James Woodbourne is yet another Andrew Weatherall pseudonym and Nicky Maguire's identity is a closely guarded secret). They play Clock Factory, the fifteen minute long industrial ambient from 1994's Sabresonic, all clicks and whirs, and follow it with Ano Electro, more metallic drums and huge distorted bass and then they're done, to huge applause and waves of cheers and whoops. Sabres Of Paradise come back quickly, no messing about and launch into Sabresonic's opening track, the hard edged, acid house and thumping kick drums of Still Fighting, Jagz dropping in the whistling synth sound from Still Fighting's source material, Primal Scream's Don't Fight It, Feel It. It's is fast and frenetic, physical, techno you can feel, and it cuts deep. 

Then they push everything a notch higher with the return of Smokebelch, this time the David Holmes remix (Holmes is in the DJ booth watching having warmed the crowd up with ninety minutes of dubby sounds). Holmes's remix, released a week after the original 12" (itself a version of LB Bad's New Age Of Faith) did what seemed impossible- it made Smokebelch peakier, upping the ante. Jagz and Gary, Rich, Nick and Phil, are at the centre of a storm in Fabric now, the crowd going nuts as the drum troupe drums rattle around the room, the whistles and piano ride around on top and that huge acid line runs through the centre of it. I have a thirty second clip of it, the piano runs and drums, red lights and a sea of hands in the air- mayhem, everyone dancing and lost in the music, a thirty year gap vanished, Smokebelch very much in the present. 

It's also very poignant. Andrew Weatherall's not here and he started this whole thing, Sabres a result of a late night conversation with Jagz and Gary in a club in 1992. I'm sure I'm not the only one who, as the five man Sabres live band gather centre stage and take their bow, can imagine Lord Sabre himself, somewhere in the shadows at the side of the stage, nodding and smiling, giving them his blessing as The Sabres Of Paradise ship sails on to Sydney Opera House and then to Spain. 

The gig at Fabric coincided with an announcement that Warp are re- pressing the long out of print pair of Sabres Of Paradise albums, Sabresonic and Haunted Dancehall, remastered and available either red or black vinyl. 

In September 2023 I put together a mix made up of various versions of Smokebelch to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 12" release, five versions of the track sequenced together for extended enjoyment. It seems the right time to repost it. 

Smokebelches

• Smokebelch (Beatless Mix)
• Smokebelch I
• Smokebelch II (Entry)
• Smokebelch II (Exit)
• Smokebelch II (David Holmes Mix)