My Life Story live review
Christmas 2025 at Dingwalls

Sean McManus reviews My Life Story as Jake and the band celebrate 25 years of their third album. This review appeared in Record Collector in an edited form.

It’s the 25th anniversary of My Life Story’s third album Joined Up Talking, which has just been reissued on vinyl and CD with bonus tracks. To celebrate, the band performed it in sequence, followed by highlights from across their repertoire.

There was a joyful and playful mood, with the audience singing the riffs with the synth-strings as they did 25 years ago. Singer/songwriter Jake Shillingford performed energetically. Between the songs, he entertained us with anecdotes about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s planned Action Man musical and a quick game of Mornington Crescent. When the set list finished before the curfew, the band were having so much fun they played high-energy-blast Stalemate and electropop-singalong It’s a Girl Thing once more.

Jake at the front, with Simon on the drums. Photo by Mark Turner (@markmakesphotos)

For fans, the big surprise was the reunion of the original band for Strumpet, with Simon “The Saint” Wray behind the drums, Dan Turner on the keyboards, and Paul “The Crow” Seipel on bass.

With its lyrics about Tamagotchis and Game Boys, Joined Up Talking is like a time capsule. On that night, though, with the band and fans throwing themselves into it again, it felt like no time had passed.

Jump, Jake! Photo by Mark Turner (@markmakesphotos)

Set list

This is reproduced from a photo of the printed setlist that was used on stage, which included instrument and band notes.

• Florences Theme by My Life Story - Intro
• Empire Line
• IYCLWMTWAYDY - Ac Guitar + 🎺
• It's a Girl Thing
• Sunday Tongue
• Yes to Everything
• Walk Don't Walk Ac Guitar + 🎺
• Nothing For Nobody - 🎺
• New New Yorker - 🎺
• Neverland (Ac Guitar & Piano only) Dan — FX
• Stalemate
• I Don't Believe in Love - 🎺
• Two Stars - 🎺
• Tits & Attitude +SPD BT
• Motorcade (Ac Guitar) - 🎺
• Broken (Ac Guitar) +SPD BT
• Running Out Of Heartbeats +SPD BT
• Numb Numb Numb +SPD BT
• Taking On The World +SPD BT
• Sparkle 🎺 Simon
• Strumpet 🎺 Dan / Simon / Crow
• 12 Reasons Why I Love Her - 🎺
• #No Filter - +SPD BT- turn up SPD in final 3rd

Links

• Jake reveals how Mornington Crescent was recorded in this 1996 interview
• Interview from 2000 when MLS released one of the first digital singles (IYCLWMTWAYDY)
• Interview with Jake about ExileInside
• More My Life Story photos
• Official My Life Story website and shop