When it comes to Levellers albums that fans rally behind, Levelling the Land often steals the spotlight. Its influence is unquestionable. But it’s far from the only record in their catalogue deserving anniversary treatment.
This year marks 30 years of Zeitgeist — their chart-topping fourth album, home to their biggest-selling single “Just the One,” and a milestone that marked a creative shift towards deeper, more reflective songwriting.
Where Levelling the Land gave us the idealistic promise of “The Boatman” (“I know someday I will be…”), Zeitgeist questioned what happens after you grow up: “No matter just what window you look out of, the view just never ever seems to change.” That tension between youthful idealism and adult reckoning defined the album — and it defined this tour.
There was a playful reshuffle of the original 1995 running order, with “The Fear” opening the show before rolling straight into the first single “, Hope Street.” Outtakes like “Alive” landed just as strongly, proving how deep and underrated the Zeitgeist era really is. Aside from the absence of “4 am,” the band played the album in full. And for anyone thinking its omission was due to age — bassist Jeremy turning 60 this year and Mark Chadwick just behind him — the blistering, high-BPM attack of “Fantasy” and “Leave This Town,” and the crowd’s explosive response to them, quickly quashed that theory. This was youthful energy, fully recharged.
From those punk-driven eruptions came moments of calm introspection: “Maid of the River,” “Saturday to Sunday,” “Forgotten Ground,” and the pilgrimage-worthy “Men an Tol.” Instead of recreating the Cornish standing stone visuals, the band showered Shepherds Bush in confetti — a fitting celebration of an album that moves between wild catharsis and quiet reflection with natural ease. Zeitgeist also brought lighter touches into the set: the wry night-out confessions of “Just the One” and the return of Depth Charge’s classic sampled scratching in “Exodus.”
If the goal was to prove that Zeitgeist remains timeless, they nailed it. Every track landed. Every lyric felt lived-in. And in an era when albums were often built around a couple of singles, Zeitgeist stands out as a cohesive, front-to-back listen — not a concept album, but unified by something deeper.
After “Men an Tol,” the venue went dark. Out stepped Stephen Boakes, the band’s long-time didgeridoo magician, emerging in multicoloured makeup and avant-garde finery. The band followed for the instrumental outro to “The Boatman,” before Boakes stayed on for the non-negotiable Levellers anthem “One Way.” They could easily have leaned only on pre-Zeitgeist classics from here, but instead mixed eras beautifully, firing through 2020’s “Four Boys” and the fiery 2008 track “Cholera Well.” A cheeky tease of “Broken Circles” led the audience to expect one thing — only for the band to erupt into the glorious, communal stomp of “The Riverflow” to close the night.
As ever, Zeitgeist’s political heart beat strongly. Levellers have always been a band unafraid to raise issues, but unlike many artists this year, they do it without alienating or dividing their audience. They lift the room, unify it, and leave no one out. Their support for Sussex Homeless Support underscored that ethos — proof that activism and great music can coexist without compromise.
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