Review and Photography by Robert Barrett

It’s exactly a year since Tom Clarke announced that the Enemy were reuniting at the HMV Empire. Now after a successful tour of the UK they return to their hometown of Coventry for a victory lap of three sold out shows, and if the first was anything to go by its going to be a legendary run of shows in the city.

Each night the Coventry were being treated to a different support, and first on the roster was Birmingham based The Clause. The band have been building hype in their hometown and its easy to see why. Catchy tunes and a excellent stage presence, even a few eager fans at the front barrier singing along.

Kicking off a set with “Aggro” is a clear statement of intent, this is not the acoustic tour Tom has been playing over the past few years, this is The Enemy, and they are back with a vengeance. Beers, arms and people were flying in the air from the start. Tom screaming the lyrics like his life depended on it.

The set was focused on the classic album “We Live And Die In These Towns” and for good reason. Every song provoked a mass singalong from the crowd, in fact it was at some points it was hard to hear the band over the beer fueled vocalists.

The star of the show was the emotional “This Song”, an anthem so good they played it twice. By the time the band left the stage it was clear that this wasn’t just a victory lap, but the start of the next part of their career.