SAULT’S ‘ACTS OF FAITH’

SoulPower's synopsis on SAULT's Acts Of Faith show

Jan 04, 2024

November 25th. On November 25th 2023, SAULT sent their fanbase into hysteria with an announcement that they’d be performing live in 2023, in London. Now, I feel confident in saying that NO ONE in the world was more excited about this announcement than I was and I, as well as many other fans were confused as to how they were going to put together a live show before the year had ended and as the days went by, November came to a close and December slowly crept on and on without a concrete announcement set, people began to get worried but this all goes hand in hand with SAULT’s ever present, mysterious aesthetic and this was on full display when they put tickets on sale a mere three days before the event, which would end up being the 14th of December. However, before the official confirmation, all the uncertainty was getting to people (me) and I had already told myself that NOTHING was going to stop me from attending, may it be work, friends or family, SAULT was my priority on whatever day it was announced (that does sound sad but I’m going to live in it), even if it was somehow on Christmas Day, I’d have found a way. Nevertheless, the 14th of December was set and I had to go through hell, high water, valley, mountain and molehill alike to secure my ticket and made the trip, us as a fanbase had no idea what to expect but after founding out the ticket prices… fans were now expecting to be mind-blown.

Honestly, I think i’d struggle to aptly describe the entire experience, but we will attempt it, let me preface this by saying this took place at the Drumheads venue, an old IKEA building in the middle of nowhere. The queue went along relatively quickly to be fair, I was only stuck amongst it for slightly over 20 minutes and so there are no complaints there but it really gets interesting as soon as you step foot into the venue. Upon entrance, you walk into seemingly an old post office, everything is covered in dust and cobwebs and I had no idea what to think in this moment, you then walk into a kitchen where 2 people are just… sitting there, not saying a word and reading a book each 🤷🏾‍♂️. Me and a friend tried to hypothesise what the meaning of this could all be but were left stumped.

SIDENOTE : if at ANY point it sounds like I am making something up, I promise I am not.

Let’s get back on track. Following this, you then walk through said family’s fridge which takes you to this sort of underground bunker and already, you are enjoying an experience, it is something you have probably never had to do on your way into a concert, I certainly haven't. Yet, you are still on edge as to what is going to be around the next corner and it hightens your excitement before you’ve even stepped foot into the main hall, to be honest, at this point I was unsure as to whether there would even be a main hall. After being in this war bunker-esque corridor, you’re ushered into a room of mirrors (I walked into a mirror, it hurt.) which was full of foliage and podiums, with each podium holding an individual SAULT album, protected in a glass case. It was a real thing of beauty and regality, the placing of the vinyl albums in the cases really made them feel special and rare, a commodity if you will and they definitely are because I’ve wanted several SAULT vinyl for a while and they have been out of stock for AGES, if anyone from SAULT is seeing this, PLEASE restock them - Especially 5, 7, Untitled (God), Untitled (Rise), Untitled (Black), Earth… ykno what? All of them, ALL of them - it’s been a while and I need to grow my collection. After this maze, we FINALLY step foot into the main arena and it was DEFINITELY a sight to behold.

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Upon entrance, if you weren’t already, you’re in instant dazzlement of what had been put together, in front of all us fans was a huge room, equipped with 5 stages, one for orchestra, one for the band, one for the choir, the main stage and a stage up high in a corner strictly used for one solitary song ( Don’t Waste My Time, if memory serves.) This was an innovation i’d never seen, us as the audience didn’t know where to be, where to stand and our focus was always shifting. Whether it was through beautiful lighting, the grandeur in stage design, the eccentricity in their musical style or the constant changes in focus, SAULT’s Acts Of Faith concert was an astounding sensory experience that left you on your toes for over 3 hours.

The show opens with a tribal drummer, who to my knowledge is unrecognised to most, if not all the SAULT fanbase and within the Acts Of faith performance, a singer also blessed the stage and gave a pleasant solo performance, I’d want to label it opera but I am not certain. Regardless, this is the beauty of the SAULT collective, these 2 performers could easily be on many a record, but the mysticism of the group doesn’t allow us to be privy to this information, there is a real beauty in this, I believe, as we do not necessarily know who is behind any given SAULT track (entirely), yet we listen and anticipate their next move with such glee, we don’t know what to expect and this theme was prevalent throughout the night, especially with the performance of an unreleased album that had never been heard before and is said by SAULT themselves to never be performed again, this only added to the night, every person that attended now feels special and as if they witnessed something historic.

Acts Of Faith, in that building and on this day, was not only an album but it was a moment… a place for peace, solace and a shelter for healing souls. The arrangement of the album was executed well, drawing mostly on the orchestral sounds of the SAULT ‘AIR’ series, the traditional African sounds on Earth and the sounds of hope that you’d probably associate most with the messages on Untitled (Black Is), whilst still having its own unique feel to it, I at no point thought “I feel like I’ve heard this song before”. All of this was finely balanced with beautiful visuals, whether this be the striking tribal dancing, interpretive dance or their angelic imagery that perfectly coincides with their faith & beliefs and finally, a runway style showing that had shades of Kanye West’s Life Of Pablo show at Maddison Square Garden. I feel good lighting is so important at concerts and despite the few times that I thought I may go blind (kidding), this really helped enhance the show. The album was a true blend of so many styles and was another testament to the group’s artistry, there were moments of hush tones and calm contrasted with times of intensity and excitement, its incredibly cliche but… You had to be there. Now, SAULT and their ways make me question whether we will ever get this album on streaming, vinyl or at least a digital download (I hope they do) but there were these pillars hanging from the ceiling and I thought it would have been a great idea for them to potentially show QR codes on these pillars to download the album right there and then, just an idea 🤷🏾‍♂️.

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However… the pillars do bring me onto my one true gripe of the show. Whilst the multiple stages was a real treat to see and made for a great visual experience, the design of the room with huge pillars hanging from the ceiling did obstruct my view at points and i could see that it was the same for others in the venue. Yes, they had a screen at the back of the main stage, showing the main focus of the show at any given time but if you’re like me, you didn’t come to a concert to watch it on a screen, you want a clear, real view of what is going on. Honestly though, I was able to get over it fairly quickly, moved where I was standing a little bit and all was good. ACTUALLY, i’m circling back right before I am scheduling this post. When SAULT performed their already established songs, they did at least a song from all albums apart from Today & Tomorrow, I thought this was odd, it would have been cool to have seen Heal The World or Jungle performed, maybe it was a personnel thing. Lastly, I just REALLY wanted to hear them perform Safe Within Your Hands and Alcohol and they didn’t do either so that was a SLIGHT L for me on the night 😅.

Okay. Following the conclusion of the Acts Of Faith album, we were moved on into the more familiar tracks… what we were all hoping and waiting for. I have a special connection with several SAULT songs but this night had breathed new life into many songs that are genuinely some of my favourite of all time, not just favourite SAULT songs, songs in general. The energy (whether subdued or excited) was unmatched in making you feel emotion, the vocal ability on display from the choir and a singer that sounded an awful lot like Cleo Sol *wink* were splendid. Marry this with the orchestra and the powerful delivery of the dancers and everything was in perfect harmony and culminated to create a meticulously planned, incredible display. With the dancers particularly, the 2 performances that stick out in my mind were the songs Strong and Masterpiece. Strong is one of them songs I mentioned before that is genuinely one of my favourite songs ever and seeing the dancers step out in SWAT uniforms (saying SAULT instead of SWAT, nice touch) was really powerful to me, the military style marching and choreography depicted strength and unity perfectly and HEAVILY reminded me of scenes from Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation music video, not a bad song to emulate. Regarding Masterpiece, the song was performed under blue lighting and had dancers holding dice with letters on it, spelling out words like SAULT, Masterpiece, Love, etc as the song went on. I feel these visuals were so important for a group like SAULT who does not release music videos and are essentially faceless, a show like this now gives the members of their core following (that were able to attend) a visual aid and an aesthetic to attach to their favourite songs.

It was in some contention as to whether the artists (especially the rumoured bigger members) would conceal their identities throughout the show, I for one was certain that all the vocal artists would be masked and this ended up being the case, whilst sometimes also performing to the left of the stage behind a veil. This happening was sometimes obstructive and potentially taking away from the performance but the dancers on stage were able to subsidise for this and create a splenderful (New Word Alert 🚨) watch nonetheless. Adding to this, the hiding of identities was offset by little peeks behind the curtain from the more notable artists that are rumoured to be in SAULT, think of it as 4th wall breaks. Whether it was performing a song from outside of the SAULT catalogue and mentioning their own name (‘Little Simz’ performing Fear No Man), talking between songs and saying “I shouldn’t be doing this!” (I Think her name is Sleo Col? Something like that) or not having their voices altered in any way, all served as slight winks to the camera, saying that they won’t explicitly tell you what’s going on, but if you know…you know.

Finally, whilst I treasure the fact that I was one of few fans that were able to fully experience SAULT’s first ever live show, there were steady cams in attendance recording the entire thing and I would love to see how it translates on camera and have others experience it too. Overall, I can only compliment the execution of the show, it was something truly awe-inspiring from start to finish and as someone who is easily inspired, I left the show with so many ideas, it was incredibly stimulating. I also hope that everyone involved gets recognised and receives further opportunities following this. The vocal performance from that ‘Cleo Sol’ especially were immense and I am blown away every time I hear her live that she sounds exactly like she does on wax, if not better. Add this onto the array of other components that went in to cultivating this treasure and all of a sudden, people’s complaints (mine included) about ticket prices had surely dissipated. I particularly enjoyed the ‘I Need A Little More Faith In Me’ song, the grandure and impact of Strong’s live rendition and above all, the execution of Colour Blind by Michael Kiwanuka. Truly, i’m not sure there are many a song I know to be more intimate or more isolating and seeing this song (another one of my favourite ever songs) made me truly feel that I was the only person in attendance, a masterpiece. Colourblind came towards the tail end of the night and fit perfectly. Michael sat solemnly behind the afore mentioned veil, as a shadow, ironically because this show was symbol in SAULT emerging from the shadows and finally coming to some sort of light. However it was not a glimpse nor a flicker, it was the fiercest roaring flame that blessed our eyes, ears and memories. The night ended with SAULT’s biggest song, Wildfires, a song that perpetuates SAULT’s unwavering messages of bravery, undeterred-ness and positivity, a perfect way to conclude the night. SAULT had officially arrived.

-SoulPower

If you aren’t already a SAULT fan, I urge you to delve into their discography, genuinely something for everyone in there. You can ask us at SoulPower for an album/song recommendation based on your taste, we’ll gladly converse.

Top 3 performances of the night :

1.) Colour Blind

2.) Strong

3.) Masterpiece/ Let Me Go

(i’m not usually indecisive but you’ll have to allow me to be here)