Faithless – Live Review – Scarborough Open Air Theatre
By Charlotte Oliver, August 2025
Following their return to the live arena after eight years away and the untimely death of charismatic MC and singer Maxi Jazz, dance music legends Faithless are currently in the middle of a European tour ahead of the release of part one of their next album Champion Sound on 5th September this year.
With 6 Top Ten albums, 17 Top 40 singles and over 20 million albums sold worldwide, it is still hard to believe that almost 30 years have passed since the release of their ground-breaking debut album Reverence.
Critically acclaimed and widely recognised as an essential classic in the canon of electronic music, its hits ‘Insomnia’, ‘Salva Mea’ and ‘Don’t Leave’ have become anthems which defined a generation, and it is clear from the demographic of the crowd streaming into Scarborough’s Open Air Theatre tonight how much Faithless continue to mean to those fans who first embraced the dark urgency of their music all those years ago.
“Fully charged”
The atmosphere is fully charged even before support act, the mighty Orbital, take to the stage with their trademark bug-eyed head torches, electronic wizardry and bare feet. Also pioneers of electronic dance music, Orbital rose to prominence in the same era as Faithless and the crossover between their fans is undoubtedly huge (as Sister Bliss acknowledged in her thanks to them, ‘Without Orbital, there would be no Faithless.’) and the crowd certainly showed their appreciation, dancing with abandon from the get-go.
The OAT’s superb sound system stood up to the test, delivering heart-thumping beats to the high August sky. Standout moments from the set included the collaboration with Sleaford Mods on ‘Dirty Rat’, and a surprising mix featuring Orbital-ised versions of Belinda Carlisle, Bon Jovi and The Spice Girls – they certainly know the vintage of their audience!
The sun was beginning to dip behind the vast trees that frame the stage as Faithless stepped out to rapturous cheers, the growing darkness entirely appropriate as they launched into the Mory Kanté club classic ‘Yeke Yeke’ (again, a band who knows their audience). The seven-piece, led by the uber-cool Sister Bliss included a percussionist and two new vocalists: the phenomenal Nathan Ball and Amelia Fox, whose gorgeous voice oscillates between delicate and powerful seemingly effortlessly. The eighth member of the band was the much-missed Maxi Jazz whose voice and inimitable presence, thanks to the power of video, continued to be very much part of the performance.
“The perfect act”
Pretty much the entire theatre rose to its feet as soon as the band started to play and stayed there for the whole set as we were treated to hit after hit. ‘Insomnia’, perhaps the band’s most loved song, was much further up the set list than may have been expected but the band had no problem keeping the audience pumped throughout the night. ‘Synthesizer’ and ‘God is a DJ’ were highlights, as was a cover of another club classic, Felix’s ‘Don’t You Want Me’. The new tracks that they played went down well and the encore of ‘Music Matters’ and Dido’s ‘Thank You’ were excellent. (Dido is famously the sister of core Faithless member Rollo and was a vocalist for them before her own successful solo career.)
Tonight’s gig, alongside the recent Basement Jaxx event, shows that Scarborough’s Open Air Theatre is an ideal venue for dance music, and Faithless, with their mixture of live instrumentation and dance music sensibility, were the perfect act for this setting.
Images: Cuffe & Taylor
Charlotte Oliver is a writer and poet based in Scarborough on the Yorkshire Coast. Former BBC Radio York’s Saturday Poet Laureate and an Ilkley Literature Festival New Northern Poet 2023, she has written features for a range of publications including Yorkshire Life and the Dalesman. A childhood spent in plays and bands has led to a lifelong love of theatre and music across a wide range of genres. Similarly, a stint as a TESOL teacher for the British Council in Brazil left her with a passion for discovering new places – whether in far-flung corners of the earth or here, in beautiful Yorkshire.
charlotteoliver.com, Bluesky, Instagram
