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Jon Hinchliffe

Gigs 2002

Last Modified On 06/11/2004

I have been keeping this list of gigs I have attended and often written reviews for friends. It might interest someone so I have decided to put it online. I have tried to go to a lot of gigs in recent times as that is the only enjoyment worth aggravating my ME for but I am afraid it still affects the reviews.

Mostly Autumn/Karnataka - Mean Fiddler, London - 12 Jan 2002

See separate page

Dave Gilmour - The Royal Festival Hall, London - 16 Jan 2002

This was my first time in the Festival Hall. It is definitely a place of it's era. Very 1970's looking. All dark brown with square boxes on the sides arranged like a chess board. The stage is situated at the bottom of the setting and there is a choir section behind it. This was open to the public tonight as well. Apparently the capacity is 2,900 but weather that includes the choir area I am unsure. The place was certainly sold out.

Tonight’s support was a small Orchestra and band we were told they were called Ghostland but they were announced as The London Metropolitan Orchestra conducted by Andrew Brown, the main vocalist was Cara Dillon and there was a CD mentioned called “Interview with an Angel”, which is by Ghostland so I guess they are all related.

The orchestra had a Double Bass, 4 violins, 2 violas, 3 cellos plus a cello soloist at front. They opened in this combination and then for the next piece Cara Dillon, a singer with a nice solo voice, came on stage and the lead Cellist disappeared.

Rhythm Guitar was added for the next piece which was another Cello piece and then a Bass player and drummer appeared with Cara and two backing vocalists. This song might have called "Sacred Touch Of Beauty" and I was quite enjoying the set by now.

A keyboard player had sat on stage from the start but I hadn't noticed him playing until the next song where he added a few piano chords. This was another cello piece.

Next the Cello player joined the 3 vocalists for something that might have been "Faith In Love"

The Cello player then took lead vocals on the final piece of the set. She was also the person introducing the band at the start and end of the sets. This was something along the lines of “Glory, Glory Hallelujah, All my troubles will be over.” And I don’t think there were any drum’s bass or keyboards on this song although they all remained on stage.

At 9.15 a lone Dave Gilmour came on stage he strummed away for a good minute as though he was tuning the guitar and testing out the effects but I guess it might have been the start of the first song in a very unconventional style. Once happy though it was clearly “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” that was being played. He was using the sustain pedal to hold chords and just playing acoustic. The audience recognised the start of this song at about 3 points and each times large sections of the crowd at the back would annoyingly whoop and clap again. It took good 4 or 5 songs for them to either shut up or for me to focus out of them. Others sections of the crowd were clearly frustrated at the lack of respect being given the acoustic nature of the songs too. It's a shame really.

When Gilmour got to the vocal part I was a bit sad to hear him singing it in falsetto. It seemed too high for his range and I was surprised he wasn't doing what I considered his normal vocal. Perhaps he was and I need to hear the album again but it felt wrong to me at the time.

Towards the end of the song a sax player came Tenor sax joined Gilmour for the solo.

For "Fat Old Sun" the band for the night came on they were Drums, double bass, acoustic slide guitar and piano. When I saw the orchestra on stage I had expected them to remain as backing to Gilmour too but they were replaced during the interval. Instead there were 9 backing singers including Sam Brown who got the section together. The drummer and pianist sat on stage for this one but didn't in fact join in on it.

For the next song Gilmour took a moment or two to get the sound he wanted from the acoustic and then he started playing with the backing singers Ahhing etc. The full band then joined in half way through and Gilmour did a nice solo.

The solo Cello player from support act came on stage next and they played “Dominoes” from Syd Barrett's Solo album “Barrett”. Again strangely the Cello player didn't actually play on this though.

She waited until "High Hopes" from Division Bell. Gilmour played a small slide guitar on this and the keyboard player switched to a wind instrument I didn't recognise. Dave so liked the choir he got them to reprise some of their Ah's with only the backing of the other guitar player.

Next up was “Je Crois Enterdre Encore”. The band were as before but with no 2nd guitar.

There was then a new piece called "Smile". I got the impression this was written with a backing singer and she was the only one on this one.

Next Richard Wright was introduced on Keyboards and they played “Breakthrough” from Wright's “Broken China” album. Gilmour used a standard electric guitar on this. Someone messed up and forgot there was a Tenor saxophone solo so Gilmour restarted the song from where it should have come in.

“Wish You Were Here” was next with Wright moving over to the piano. The crowd spontaneously but quietly joined in with this one and there was the biggest response so far.

Wright moved back to his keyboard on the right of the stage for “Comfortably Numb”. Robert Wyatt who was responsible for getting Gilmour to play acoustically earlier in the year sang/talked the early vocals in the song from his wheelchair off stage. I thought the ending of the song was slightly subdued but it got the biggest crowd response of the night.

Next was “The Dimming Of The Day”. Richard Wright had now left the stage.

“Shine On You Crazy Part 2” was the last song off the set. The Cello player used an electric cello on this one. She left the stage at the start of the sax solo. During the rest of it everyone else left too and the end of the solo seemed a bit abrupt the sax player left to.

The Encore started with “A Great Day For Freedom”, which had a good ending I thought. The crowd were quite subdued compared to the responses for “Comfortably Numb” and “Wish You Were Here”.

The final song of the night was “Hushabye Mountain”. Gilmour was only accompanied by the Piano, cello, double bass and backing vocalists on this one.

It is very difficult to know how to judge this concert. Obviously a lot of the fans were Pink Floyd fans but this evening was designed to be mainly acoustic.

I guess if you are a fan of acoustical sets it was a good night but if not you probably felt the same frustration Deep Purple fans feel with Ritchie Blackmore in Blackmore's night. I defend Blackmore so I guess I defend Gilmour to do what he likes but the evening was rather flat for me. It had good moments but it lacked the spark. A few days before I saw Mostly Autumn who are openly influenced by Pink Floyd and Gilmour and given the choice of one or the other I would go and see them instead.

Magnum - Waterfront Norwich - 12 March 2002

I guess if you want a short review this was a good gig with all the standard songs you would expect Magnum to play.

The band was on good form and the crowd was sold out and happy with what they got.

You probably want to stop reading now as I am a strange Magnum fan and the gig cause me a lot of soul searching.

I wasn't enjoying it as much as the crowd. I am extremely tired and rundown so perhaps my mood is a little on a downer. I don't think so though.

I have been listening to the new album "Breath of Life" and although I am on over ten plays it is still making no impression. The closest I am getting to a stand out track probably "After The Rain".

My history with Magnum is rather chequered. They were fantastic to start with. They peaked for me on "Chase the Dragon" and then hit rock bottom on "Eleventh hour". "Storyteller's Night" brought them back with a reasonable album that made them popular and then they peaked commercially. I completely lost interest after "Vigilante" and then slowly picked up again starting with the Acoustic "Keep the Night Light Burning". I also had a catch up period after the first Hard Rain album. Now that Hard Rain album I absolutely loved. The 2nd one didn't work for me. I also had the same pattern with Bob Catley solo. The last album "Middle Earth" was big improvement on the 2nd though. Live I saw Magnum on the Vigilante tour and I think I enjoyed it. Then I saw Hard Rain and Bob Catley solo and loved the first tours but less so the 2nd.

"Breath Of Life" is kind of Hard Rain 3 kind of Magnum. The gig tonight was a bit like that to. I found "Kingdom of Madness" to be done in a very Hard rain soundscape. I think it is the short sharp keyboards I am registering but there might be more. "Just Like January" sounded very Hard Rain live and was possibly the best new one for me tonight.

Vigilante started us off and I felt something was missing but I couldn't think what. I was a bit surprised at how long Tony Clarkin spends on Rhythm and how little on solos.

At points during the gig I got a strong feel of Fish era Marillion. Probably on songs from that era.

The last song of the night "Sacred Hour" was a key to my understanding of what my problem with commercial Magnum is. They seem to have changed the use of the keyboards. There are lots of additional touches that are completely missing to my ears in later periods. The band therefore became half the band to me. I enjoy them but I don't get off on them as much and hence I am really craving the wrong Magnum when I see them. When I saw Hard Rain it was Ok because they played most of the 1st album and a few Magnum classics. That worked really well for me because I wasn't expecting Magnum. Magnum on a reunion tour have to play their greatest hits and they are less to my taste so I actually enjoyed Hard Rain more.

I was really disappointed with the treatment of the Spirit. I think it has been done in it's current style for a few tours but the crowd were noticeably talking loud during the Acoustic part. In fact half the crowd was buzzing and singing along and half bored and waiting for them to wake up. I don't mind a verse or two acoustic but I really prefer to hear it as the full band rock version.

Would I go and see Magnum again? I guess it depends on the latest release and the ease of me getting there.

Bob was out in the crowd during Tylar and someone thanked him for coming to East Anglia as we are often forgotten by bands. It is good the band tends to make it to Norwich. It is good the Waterfront was at capacity. Perhaps next time they will be able to do the UEA. The Waterfront holds 600 or so and the stage is too low really. It would be a nice venue if it was higher and there were fewer pillars spoiling the view. I like the fact the stage is on the length of the room. It would be nice if there was somewhere for disabled users and the likes of me the can't enjoy gigs standing.

Bob was in good form singing and using his hands to express himself. The drummer Harry was really popular with the crowd. Bass player Al was really happy through out the gig. I found Mark Stanway frustrating. He seemed to need different keyboards when he finely got chance to shine in Sacred Hour. Tony Clarkin was interesting to watch. He is not a happy player and he does seems to pull faces as he players. I don't think I have been in a position to view him in recent years so it was good to watch him.

Well, well done if you got this far with out getting to cross. I hope I haven't annoyed too many Magnum fans. I am sure the gig was great and my fellow travellers were both really impressed with the gig and wanting to check out more Magnum so that can only be a good thing. I hope they make it big again. I am already impressed to hear the album actually made the Uk top 100. Most unusual for someone I like!

Gabriel/Damian Wilson - Oakwood Centre, Rotherham - 13 April 2002

This gig was originally scheduled for January but got cancelled at the last minute due Damian Wilson being ordered to Hospital with a bad leg. As it turns out the gig was well worth the wait.

I booked it mainly because my girlfriend liked the Damian solo album I have. I like it too but I am not sure I like it enough to trek all the way to Rotherham and stay overnight though. I would have kicked myself if I had come to realise later how much I enjoyed the gig though.

The last time I attended a Classic Rock Society gig in Rotherham it was to see Rick Wakeman and because it was a capacity gig people were banned from sitting down. Tonight the hall was probably half full so people had the choice of grabbing a seat from the sides or standing. This was a great relief to me as I find standing far too tiring. I was therefore comfortable and able to enjoy the gig to the full.

The previous gig had been a 10th Anniversary gig of the Rock Society and there had been far too much self promoting and ranting about people not attending normal gigs. This time this was cut back a lot so not as irritating. I am a member of the Rock Society and I can understand Martin's frustration with lack of attendances etc but I don't think harping on about it at gigs wins any new friends.

The support act was Gabriel. I was interested to see them, as I was pretty sure Bryan Josh from Mostly Autumn had mentioned them to me in an Interview.

They were a strange set up tonight. Two acoustic guitars, one lead guitar, Bass and keyboards. As the set emerged it was revealed they normally have a drummer but they are currently looking for a new one.

They started with a song I will guess is called "One" as it had the line "One voice, one hope, one dream" in it. The Electric drum beat had me wondering what we were in for with this band but it has to be said I quite liked the chorus. I am not sure how to describe the band. I suppose a likeness to someone like Barclay James Harvest isn't completely out of the question. They probably have a more modern edge but I don't have anything of that type in my collection to compare it to.

Next up was “Waiting For The Sun”, which seemed to incorporate "Here Comes The Sun". The band overall are very mellow by my standards. Marc said before this track that they were playing tracks of both their albums but either it was introduced with the wrong title or I am going blind because I can't see it listed on an album. One of the bands two albums is unplugged. I am not sure how I would take to that. The main hook for me on this track is the lead guitar part.

The next song was introduced as "You Don't Even Know" and again seems to be unreleased. I thought this was quite good too.

This was followed by "I Wanna Be With You" which is very funky. Lots of electric wah wah guitar. To my hard rock tastes it was by far the worst track of the night. It didn't help that the lead guitarist broke his guitar string and didn't have a spare guitar with him so he had to go off mid song and restring it. The band to its credit carried on without him and told us to imagine the guitar solo. It seemed a shame one of the acoustic guitars or Keyboards couldn't have adlibbed though.

The guitar was still being restrung so Graham did a solo song I think called "Feels like Home?". This was done with Graham mainly alone and but Marc did join in on vocals I think. This seemed very country in nature. Again not really to my taste

Next up was "Faith and Betrayal". Now my ears really picked up on this one as apparently Bryan Josh had played the solo on the album version. When it came to the solo I certainly felt it had Bryan's solo style written all over it.

At this point I decided to splash out of Gabriel first album Ascension. I figured if I didn't like it Maria probably would and I wanted hear what Bryan had played.

I have played the album about 10 days now and I was surprised to find 5 out of 7 Mostly Autumn members had guested on it. I think I prefer the first half of the album to the 2nd half but I will see if I can get chance to review it.

Marc commented he was impressed by the audience. They were unusual in that they were really listening.

"And I love her" was next and is from the unplugged album. I can't decide if tonight’s performance was representative of the song or not. This was probably the softest song of the set and had a keyboard flute solo. There was no real lead guitar on this one so perhaps it was a good representation of the unplugged album's performance

To end the set they played "Feel" which will be on a future album and was the heaviest track of the night. The lead guitar was riffing and Graham was playing Harmonica for this track. I quite liked this one too.

At the end of the set I was intrigued enough to buy the album and had enjoyed a support act. This is extremely rare for me so well done Gabriel. Time will tell weather I get into the first album enough to make me want to try more. I found it very interesting that little of the set was from the first album and that one of the tracks was the one I liked least.

Fancy York being such a good place for decent bands.

So to Damian Wilson. I was truly amazed at how much I enjoyed Damian's two sets. I have the Disciple album and I have to say I am far more comfortable with Damian's singing voice in this gentler environment than when Damian is going full out on a hard Rock song. Damian has an extremely powerful voice and he seems to love singing all types of song. I can't put my finger on why I think Damian's voice is more suitable to folky type rock than hard rock and I am sure I am in a minority in thinking it is but that is the way things work for me.

It seems Damian has put together a 5-piece band for his solos gigs. But tonight 6 other players joined them. I think the sense of an event was part of the excitement for me.

From Left to right the stage was Catalina Greggains on Flute, Bryony Lang on Violin, and Jon Ornoifsson on cello. Just behind them was Nic Slack on keyboards. Next to him was Matt Hughes on Bass and Patrick Hannan on drums. Damian of course was in the middle at the front and played various acoustic guitars. Continuing at the back Murdoch Macdonald played percussion. Damian's brother Paul Jude Wilson sang Backing vocals then working back towards Damian their was Andrew Holdsworth on Piano and Paul Williams on guitar. All the additional musicians except Jon had had some involvement in Damian's two solo albums. Jon had played with Damian in Les Miserables.

The set got off to a difficult i.e. unknown, start for me as it was all off Cosmos and we didn't have this album until the gig. I could instantly tell the songs were Damian's though and they definitely had the feel of Disciple. I instantly loved “Homegrown” and if Maria hadn't bought Cosmos I would have just to get “Homegrown”.

Maria being daft enough to go out with me is quiet keen on long hair. She was therefore gutted to see Damian has had his cut off. I thought it sad to see another one bite the dust but it doesn't look to bad too me.

I didn't register too much about the strings and flute except they played well. The Bass player seemed not to mind trying to get the crowd to clap etc. Andrew is quiet a tall chap and sat to play the Piano keyboard. On the faster songs his left leg taps a lot which made an interesting sight.

Paul Williams had me baffled on his guitar solos. To me he has a really unusual style. He always seems to strum, or I have the feeling the term is Surfs, all the strings. After the gig I asked him how he did his solos and he said he was using his thumb to close off certain notes. I would like to see him more to understand how he gets the solos. He makes it look like someone else must be doing them.

Nic Slack was stuck at the back of the stage so less noticeable but he still seemed to play well. Damian wanted him to adlib at one point to fill out a guitar change and he instantly came up with the music from Captain Pugwash.

Damian was very laid back with his chat and decided to make a standing joke/comment for the night about how amazing it was that people had come from Holland to see the gig.

On the “Disciple” album I got the impression some of the songs seemed a bit too short and lacking in instrumental breaks. I didn't feel this at all tonight.

I can only assume the band hadn't rehearsed much together but it didn't show. I thought the performance was pretty much perfect. There was certainly never any doubt about any of Damian's vocals and when he did "Bring Him Home" to end the first set you could really see what a powerful voice he has. As he sings you could really get a feel for the emotion in his lyrics.

During the night the musicians came on and left the stage as needed. Damian probably did 45mins in the first set and 65 in the 2nd along with his encore.

It was a great night and I am really glad I went along. I would certainly make an effort to see him again even if there only a standard band set up. In fact I am quite curious to know how the songs sound without the strings and flute etc. I must confess since Damian had used a whole orchestra on the album I hadn’t really expected the arrangements to come across as big as they did. It was surprisingly effective having just a flute, cello and violin.

Despite having all the musicians with him it didn't stop Damian tackling a couple of songs completely solo.

I am now looking forward to the next Rick Wakeman gig in Rotherham and I will enjoy it just as much as tonight but in a complete different way. Rick is my normal thrilling music enjoyment. This was original laid back music and made a great change for me. I am looking forward to seeing Damian in a solo context again.

Mostly Autumn/John Young - 28 Apr 2002 - Cambridge Junction

Set 1

Winter Mountain
Darkness Before The Dawn
Spirit of Autumn Past
Evergreen
Out Of The Inn
Which Wood?
Shrinking Violet

Set 2

Forge Of Sauron
Greenwood The Great
Nowhere to Hide
Shindig/Haste To The Wedding
Never The Rainbow
Heroes Never Die
Mother Nature

Encore

The Night Sky

It was good to get another chance to see Mostly Autumn. It was back to the Junction this time. I was rather worried before the gig, as the place seemed very light on people. The last time I was here there was seating at the back. I had never seen it there before and it was gone again this time. That meant a standing gig. Still there was plenty of room for my stick seat and I decided I would suffer the consequences and really enjoy the set.

As it happens a few people did find some seats and sit at the back but this time I decided I was going to master what Liam is playing and generally watch the people I don't look at from close up.

I finally think I have a reasonable idea of what Liam's role is during the gig. I don't think I hear him as well as my girlfriend does, and thinks I should, but I understand now he adds a lot of subtle little effects and power chords. In an interview I am typing up from last October he talks about using an E-Bow during Mother Nature. It was great to see what he was actually talking about. It is a little box that has a light in it and I assume it bows the strings rather than him strumming them. His right hand certainly just seemed to hold the box. I also noticed at last the he actually sings a couple of lines completely solo.

The star of my observing has to be Iain. I have never had such a good view of what he does before. I didn't realise how complex his parts are. I had kind of convinced myself he was using chords a lot but his work is a lot more complex than that. It was fascinating to watch.

The other person I had a better opportunity to observe was Angie. It is of course obvious when she is playing flutes and whistles etc but I hadn't really noticed her providing chords and stuff on the keyboard she has behind Iain's. I had spotted she plays and sings there on Mother Nature but there is at least another song where she was adding chords too.

I also realised how much I enjoy the drumming in Mostly Autumn. I am normally oblivious to drumming as long as it is not monotonous so it is unusual for me to notice. Also I didn't notice the annoying Bell thing in “Out Of The Inn”. I wonder if I am just used to trying to ignore it now.

“Shrinking Violet” gave me the impression Bryan was doing more solos under Heather. The song was unfortunately hindered by feedback on Heathers mic but was excellent all the same. The band did two sets again so this gave the techie's chance to sort out this feedback problem for the 2nd half. Mind you Angela then had it for the opening track of the 2nd set. It must be so off putting to the band's concentration.

It was great to see two new tracks from Lord Of The Rings added to the set. I am waiting patiently for Goodbye Alone to be added though. Talking to Bryan they are apparently working on getting it into the set.

The crowd may well have been up on the last time but it was difficult to tell as we were nicely spread about instead of being on the seat and all the rest near the stage. I was worried we wouldn't get an encore though. It was 11 O'clock as Mother Nature ended the main set and the house lights went on. This confused the audience and no one was sure weather to just leave or keep clapping. Luckily some brave soul shouted out for more and the rest of the crowd quickly joined in. Phew. It was great to get the Night Sky.

Mostly Autumn - The Waterfront Norwich - 5 May 2002

What an amazing difference a week can make when a band is on tour. You would expect two nights on the same tour to be near enough the same but tonight the band and audience both seemed to be really buzzing and the set list and been revised.

This was the bands first time in Norwich and consequently they thought they might end up playing to about 40 people. As it turned out I reckon there were about 150. There was certainly room to watch in comfort but the crowd were so enthusiastic.

We decided not leave as early as last week and consequently we got caught out by the band being on a lot earlier. I don't know when John Young was on but it must have been on soon after 7pm. We arrived about 8.15 and we had missed “Winter Mountain” and the band were half way through “Darkness Before The Dawn”. It was a shame but at least I didn't miss my favourite “The Spirit Of Autumn Past”. At the end of this I was settled enough to notice how different the crowd reaction was. The crowd were at least 3 times as noisy and you would never have thought the audience was about the same size.

Perhaps the layout of the venue is a factor the Waterfront is long and slim so the audience are all up close to the band and the place feels fuller with less people. I would much rather see a gig at the Junction though because the stage at the Waterfront is too low. They don't supply a drum riser and there are far to many pillars obscuring the view.

Maria seems to have a good memory for face and she commented a lot of the crowd were regulars to Mostly Autumn gigs she has been too. Especially a large chap with long hair and a small wife who tend to stand in the middle at the front. I must say "Hello" sometime.

At Cambridge I noticed that during “Which Wood?” Bryan sets the pace for the repeats. He seemed to have a laugh doing this. This week it seemed to have developed even more and he actually caused Heather to lose her concentration and crack up. In fact I have never noticed Bryan being so happy looking in a gig. He was apparently suffering from a heavy cold but I couldn't tell it. The stage is not the biggest in the world but the whole band seemed to be a lot more mobile. Andy on Bass has always moved around a bit and taken up Angie's place when there is a gap but Liam and Heather and even Bryan all seemed to move about more than normal. I don't suppose individually they did more moving than normal but for them all to move so much on the same night in my view helped create the atmosphere and fun.

Apart from Jonathan's drums being too low on the stage. I felt there was less kit too. I felt there had been more drums higher up at Cambridge. This surprised me as I couldn't think why it would change. I asked after the show and apparently Jon has two-stage kits and uses the one that best fits the room he has.

I decided to focus more on the traditional focal point of the band tonight. And it was interesting how watching Heather and Bryan reminded me of the first couple of gigs I saw. When I arrived Heather was in a dark shawl. This struck me as very odd as it made the whole band pretty much one colour and I am used to seeing Heather being a bright contrast. She took the shale off half way through the set and it could be seen she was wearing a stripy Blue glitter top and I think a flimsy skirt over White trousers. For the 2nd set she reappeared in her long white cloak for the Lord Of The Rings vocal part and then returned in the costume she had worn at Cambridge. The Gold Butterfly top with white trousers and Gold Side pieces giving a cowboy sort of look (Apparently they are leaves and I am not observant enough!).

Either I wasn't as observant on dress at Cambridge or all the blokes seemed to have more stage oriented tops on tonight.

The set in the 2nd half contained a couple of changes. First Half a Mountain was reintroduced and then the new track “Noise From My Head” that only made the CD-R version of “The Last Bright Light” and which has now been added to Anthology was played. This was a bit of a let down to me. There doesn’t seem to be much to the arrangement. Most unusual.

Mother Nature was back to its Encore Slot and the Night Sky was dropped.

After the gig I would estimate at least 50% of the audience stayed behind for autographs from the band. This compares to almost no one at Cambridge. I have noticed before that people in Norwich seem to be a lot more appreciative of the rock bands that come as far away from the main cities as Norwich. Good on them.

Rick Wakeman/Gina Dootson - Oakwood Centre Rotherham - 17 May 2002

Time for another Rick gig yippee. This one was kind of special for me as it was at breakfast in the Hotel after this fixture 7 months ago that I meet Maria. Maria offered me a little home and by the end of it we both knew, though didn't tell each other, we had meet our ideal partners.

We got to Rotherham with plenty of time to spare and checked into the same Hotel. Then I remembered I had clean forgot to bring the tickets. I have a dreadful memory so I always use a checklist before leaving for a gig. Clearly this time I must have read it with my brain switched off. Actually when we checked in I had to get Maria to write in the guestbook etc as I was incapable of writing. Having a girlfriend is just too tiring for me. But I like it :-)

Maria panicked a bit but I felt talking to Martin Hudson of the Classic Rock society or the band ought to resolve the problem. If the worst came to the worst we would have to get more tickets and hope it wasn't sold out.

So at this point we went for a meal. We kind of expected to see the band eating again as per last time but they weren't about this time. Typical. Maria then commented the Hotel had joked the gig was on Saturday. I had a minor panic and decided to phone home and get mum to check the tickets. Phew I had arrived on the correct day! I have almost set off a week early before now!

At the gig we managed to get in and the support was Gina Dootson. She was singing and playing Acoustic guitar. It was interesting for me to see her as she had sung as a backing singer for either Mostly Autumn or Karnataka. She has a good voice and has written some good personal songs but they aren't really to my taste. Maria liked them though and she bought Gina's album.

So on to Rick. Well the first thing to note was he is now beardless. He is also not the slimmed down Rick from Return to the Centre of the Earth. I do hope he is not putting all the weight back on that he was supposed to loose after his last illness.

The next thing of course was the Ant Glynn is now unable to play with Rick due to his cancer. The Classic Rock Society will be doing a couple of benefits for him in June and Damian will be performing again.

His replacement tonight was Doug Colquhoun. I personally found it hard to judge if he is good or bad as a player.  To my ears at least Rick always has guitarist playing unusual things. He seems to have settled into the band nicely anyway.

Damian is still sporting his spikey short haircut but Adam tonight was wearing trainers on stage. I was under the impression he liked to play barefoot.

The set started with “Catherine Parr”. Rick said hello and they quickly moved to “Buried Alive”.

Rick then decided to tell the story of a last minute appearance on a “Scrabble” program. It was a celebrity version and his competitor was Toyah Wilcox who was a singer but is probably more a presenter/actress now. She is married to Robert Fripp and heads up various Dyslexia charities because she is very Dyslexic. Something it seemed the makers of Scrabble didn't know! She had agreed to take part in the program without actually knowing what the show was. They had a go at filming Toyah without cheating but her words were gibberish and the producers had to have a rethink.

The 1984 Trilogy was next and while Damian was singing “Hymn” Lee turned some blue lights on his bass on. It is always hard to know if he did this the first time tonight or if he pretends to do it the first time. The others in the band laughed anyway. Lee also got a solo in the piece.

Rick then started to introduce the Two Catherine’s (Aragon and Howard) and Adam queried if he was no longer sticking to the set list. Rick decided no he wouldn't and that it was good to keep the band on their toes. He then said he had been chatting with Adam a while back and Adam had told him his wife was not keen on him going out on tour anymore. Adam found it strange, as she knew he had done it for 11 years. Rick asked who he was playing with on the next dates. Victoria Beckham and Atomic Kitten! Rick said he didn't get it. Adam said he did now. And then thought he better rephrase it.

Adam played opening chords and Rick repeatedly went to play and then didn't much to everyone's amusement.

Next up was The Visit. It struck me there was more Moog keyboard solo in this one but I am probably wrong.

Next the band went to leave the stage as Rick was to do one alone but he kept Lee back and a stool was brought for him. They then did “Summertime” with Lee on the Fretless bass. Rick has performed this for his mum in the past. Do you think this is the reason he still likes to play it? I can’t understand his fascination for the song.

As Rick was explaining what he required someone was shouting out and Rick on the third shout actually asked him to "give it a rest". I assume it was this bloke that then started waving and jumping about for the rest of the gig. To me he seemed drunk. Others wondered if he was not a full plank. After the gig he wanted Rick's signature and he was really snotty because he had been told to go to three different places to wait and then there was a queue etc. He thought it a disgraceful way to treat fans. Then when Rick was signing his books he was going on about how he wanted them signed personally to him as he would never sell them on Ebay etc. He also said he had been asked not to come back to the gig again. I wonder why! His poor partner seemed to take it all in her stride and Rick was a pure gent to him. I don't think I have seen him handle a difficult fan before but he took it in his stride.

Next up was “No Earthly Connection”. Rick said that Damian had become a dad again recently. He then said the band wanted to come along to the Christening. Adam or Lee suggested they be the Christening band and Rick asked what song Damian would like him to play "Journey to the centre of the Birth" or perhaps even "Journey to the placenta of the Birth". Damian said he would like Rick to play and Rick then said he would give him “a really good Deal”! Typical Rick!

I don't think I enjoy “The Visit” and “No Earthly” live much. I love both originals so this is strange. They are OK but “No Earthly” is too long and repetitive for my tastes. My attention took a dip around this point in the gig but no doubt it wasn't helped by me having to stand all night.

There was a quick discussion of football and then “Never Is A Long, Long Time”.

I couldn't see Rick's Keytar during most of the set so I was worried there would be no “Merlin” dual tonight. I then spotted it was just hidden behind Rick's speakers so my interest picked up again.

I then thought Rick was going to play “White Rock” as Tony went straight into a Drum solo that sounded like the start of it. Sadly it wasn't “White Rock”. I would love to see Rick introduce it again though. Especially if Tony is given a drum solo.

The drum solo ended and went straight into “King Arthur”.

Rick then gave us an update on Ant and details of the “Ant Aid” Benefits. This was followed by “Merlin” complete with the dual. Again it was all done with great humour. It is really good to see how the band get on so well and like to have a laugh on stage. Someone commented he wished he got on as well with his dad as Adam does with Rick. I really like the fact Rick gets Damian to sing the lyrics to “Merlin”. I wonder how many of the audience wonder where they came from.

The encore was “Starship Trooper” and was much as previous gigs with Damian going into the crowd etc. Perhaps because Ant was missing I noticed the guitar solos in both “Merlin” and “Starship”. I am not sure if they are new additions or if I just noticed them because it was a new player. I have to say these last two tracks were stunning they seemed to go on for ages which I really love.

I think the total set was about 2hrs 30 mins and there was no break in the set at all this time. Another fantastic night and well worth the effort of getting to Rotherham.

Classic Rock gigs always seem to have dry ice and good lights so while it is frustrating it is a 3-4 hour drive you do get to see some good gigs at the Oakwood Centre. We are tempted to go back for the two Ant Aid benefits but they are a Friday and Saturday so I would have to miss having my children and Maria would have to have a half day. Not ideal. Time will tell I guess.

Roger Waters - Wembley Arena - 27th July 2002

This was an interesting gig for me. I have never seen Pink Floyd live but I saw Dave Gilmour earlier this year and wasn't to impressed, as he was Acoustic and a bit quirky in his song choice. I expected this to be more like a full Pink Floyd show so I had good expectations.

I guess to a degree they were met but overall the night seemed to pass me by without getting me going enough to justify the fatigue of going.

Waters came on stage about 5 or 10 past 8 so fairly close to the time he was scheduled. The first thing I noticed was the three backing singers seemed slightly out of tune. My girlfriend seemed to disagree with me but that is how I heard it. I also noticed something similar when watching the TV broadcast of Roger at Glastonbury.

The other thing was I didn't like the playing of the lead guitarist. There were two on stage but Snowy White got disappointingly few solos and I think he was more to my taste. Again watching Glastonbury got the same view so I don't think it was a one off problem.

Also I bought the DVD of the In Flesh Tour for my girlfriend and I noticed I enjoyed that a lot more overall. I am sure the lead guitarist was different and their was at least one backing vocalist different.

These little problems left me feeling the night was a bit of a B class gig. Waters himself and the rest of the band were very good. The sound was occasionally in surround sound so we got so good sound effects from the back.

I was slightly disappointed by the stage set. There were few props to speak off but there was a good use of projection through the show. I thought it was a shame there was no TV screen on the main stage as it is nice to be able to view close ups. There were two side pictures but from my position you either turned and watched that or you watched the stage.

The set list was very good with most of the Floyd classics being played and a good sprinkling of Waters solo stuff. The show lasted well over 2hrs hours so was good value for an arena show.

As a bonus we had a guest appearance by Nick Mason on drums for Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun. This was nice and it means I have in fact seen all of the Floyd members playing this year.

I wondered how many of the audience knew the set before tonight. They all seemed to cheer before Wish You Were Here faded out which I found interesting.

Waters seemed to have friends or his fan club in the section on a par with the stage on the right. He therefore seemed to give them special attention. This meant when he did decide to go to the left side they made an even stronger response.

Later during Brain Damage he ventured left again. This time he walked from left to right and as he did so the crowd stood up in a kind of Mexican wave, which I thought, was neat. They stayed standing for a couple of songs before sitting again.

I can't say I didn't enjoy the show but equally I can't claim to have liked it. I felt a bit numb through a lot of the show. I felt a wreck before I arrived so perhaps that was a factor. Every one I know enjoyed the gig so perhaps I am not a big enough Pink Floyd fan. Perhaps I am just a tough taskmaster. Oh well.

Karnataka/Sleeping Giant - Limelight Theatre Aylesbury - 13 Jul 2002

This was the first time I had seen Sleeping Giant and I have to say I wasn’t very impressed. The guitarist seemed good but he had no solos and the songs were just plain. Surprisingly Steve Rothery made a guest appearance for one track so he obviously rates them.

The last time I saw Karnataka live was in January and it is amazing the progress the band have made in their stagecraft since then.

When the DVD was recorded last October the band were a five piece and there was very little stage interaction except when Steve the guest Saxophone player came on.

In January Annie Marie had joined the band full time and had moved from the guest backing singers at the back of the stage down to the front with Rachel. She was a good foil for Rachel but she was still a bit of a backing singer.

Tonight she was fully integrated into the band. Both girls came on in white, which struck me as very striking, and possibly a tip they have picked up from Heather Findley of Mostly Autumn. Tonight Anne Marie must have done five times the amount of backing singing and at least as much flute as before.

On top of this both girls were bouncing around the stage and posing with tambourines. Anne Marie had more free time over the course of the gig and she made use of every minute of it to interact with the others.

The reason Anne Marie is singing more is because the set contained a lot of new songs for the yet to be released "Delicate flame of Desire". But even on the old songs she has had a lot of backing parts given her. There was only really one song I noticed she didn't have much of a part in and that was "Tell Me Why".

Now I have mentioned Annie Marie a lot but she was not the star of course. The whole band played brilliantly and it is still Paul on Guitar that I love to hear the most. He is so melodic on his solos and he has a good use of the bottom end of his guitar too.

Having interviewed the band two months back it was interesting to see how my perception of the rest of the members has changed. Ian is still relatively quiet on stage although he has come out of his shell a lot. I appreciate now that he and Jon are the brains behind the music and they considered themselves songwriters more than showmen.

This was the first time I had been to Aylesbury and I have to say I was impressed by the set up. It is a small little art centre type venue that holds about 120 people. The room itself looks like it is a school gymnasium during the day but at night there is pull out seating to create an amphitheatre type setting for the band. Apparently the seating isn't always used but I would think if it isn't bands are hard to see as they are on the same level.

I would definitely travel to the place again to see a band as the place really worked well.

I was also surprised at how many of the audience I knew by sight. I hadn't expected it but it must be fans from Uriah Heep or Karnataka Mean Fiddler gigs.

Overall it was a great night out and far exceeded my expectations.

The set was: -

Time Stands
Crazy
Dreamer
Right Time
Heaven
After The Rain
Should Have Known
Every thing Must Change
Writing On The Wall
Strange Behaviour
Tell Me Why
Delicate Flame
Journey
Storm
Heart Of Stone

Gabriel/Mostly Autumn – Halesworth - 10 Aug 2002

I didn’t get chance to write this gig up at the time so I can’t remember too much about it. As with last year I was impressed that a place like Halesworth can successfully put on a show such as this.

I had a quick word with the lead singer of Gabriel before the show and asked if they had played here before and they had. This triggered a memory of liking a band that was playing just as I arrived but thinking overall they were too soft for my tastes. Gabriel are a bit soft for me but I do enjoy them and now have all their CD’s. I very much enjoyed the set again today. It was good to see they now have a drummer.

Mostly Autumn got a bit longer than last year but I think the set was very similar. There was a massive difference in crowd reaction this year though. Gabriel who were on before them had started to get the crowd up. For Mostly Autumn the audience were standing like they had done for only headline act Sam Brown last year. It is possible the band were on a bit later but I would like to think that Mostly Autumn are getting more of a reputation now. It is interesting even though I didn’t like an Irish band called “Grow” I could still remember seeing them last year so with Mostly Autumn having played Gig In The Park since it started they must be quiet familiar to a lot of the audience. They were heavy on Jigs by normal standards and these always go down well and get the audience responding well.

I thought Heather made a bit of a mistake on stage. She mentioned the audience might be interested to know that they were selling CD’s over there. And someone said they weren’t and told her to get on with it or something. She got a bit uppity which was a bit unnecessary especially as a fan with all Mostly Autumn’s CD’s might well joke the same thing. She then made a mistake in the next song so I don’t know if she had got flustered.

Overall it was a good show and very good to see again. I am rather desperate to hear some new material though or even some more tracks from Lord Of The Rings. This however seems unlikely, as it seems there is to be an Anthology disc 2 before they record a new album. Classic Rock Legends do a good job marketing but I get the feeling from a lot of fans that they are getting fed up with the over marketing and repackaging of old material. I am concerned that the band are not introducing their new material into the set. Did they feel Music From Lord Of The Rings wasn’t good enough or was it just too difficult to produce live? With another UK tour coming up they will surely have time to rehearse for it so it will be interesting to see if the set is much the same or if it has been given a facelift to give keen fans like myself something new to hear live. There is obviously a balance to be achieved between new and old stuff but I doubt anyone would object to a shuffling of old numbers being played and 2 or 3 news ones. Obviously I didn’t expect that to happen at this gig though. This was pretty much a one off show the band have enjoyed doing for several years.

Sonja Kristina - Astor Theatre - Deal - 26 Aug 2002

Well I have waited a long time to get my first chance to see Sonja Kristina perform live. I took a long time to get into Curved Air and then I discovered Sonja's solo CD's and quite possibly preferred them. Sonja performed Songs From The Acid Folk live but I am not sure about Harmonics Of Love. Sadly it has been too long since that the last album was released.

Tonight was a sort of try out of new material written with Violin/Keyboard played Marvin Ayres (who normally plays Cello). The majority of the known songs seemed to be from "Songs From The Acid Folk" with one or two from "Harmonics" and a few Curved Air songs.

Sonja is obviously not the same girl she was in Curved Air and I found it interesting that watching her made me loose focus on her voice. If I listen with my eyes shut I was able to pick up much more on Sonja's delivery. Visually I can't help saying I thought with Marv on Keyboards and in sunglasses as he was at the start of the show that they looked rather similar to Yazoo.

I have to say the combination of Marv and Sonja writing songs for the future looks very promising. I could tell from the news songs that Sonja still sang in a Harmonics of Love style way (I am sure she has moved on but that is the closest album) and Marv was clearly using his excellent experimental soundscape skills to make interesting backings.

We had six list members present which was good and it was nice to meet other fans. The audience in general was a little poor but I guess it is not surprising considering Sonja's lack of recent work.

The Astor is a nice little theatre set up in a sort of Ronnie Scott's Jazz club way with lots of tables with Candles on them. It was about 3 tables deep by 6 across.

Sonja had a very good use of backing lights patterns although I felt a spotlight on her might have been nice.

Tonight we had a support act of Paula Wolffe. She was a singer songwriter who played an acoustic guitar. I don't like this sort of music and I found Paula's voice too much for me. She sang then talked through songs and was very feminine in pitch. Not my thing.

Sonja came on and performed Melinda More Or Less for her first track. Marv was on Violin for this and the first few songs. Being a duo some of the songs tonight worked better than others but this one worked well.

Next up was Anna. Sonja has spilt some water on the floor and was worried it might be dangerous. She therefore turned the amp off until it was cleared up. She then tried to start the song and realised the amp was still off. The she realised she had forgot to plug the guitar in. Most amusing and soon forgotten as this is one of my favourite songs. I can easily imagine singing this song to my daughters etc.

Devil May Care was next. Probably my other favourite on the album. I was slightly worried we were going to peak to early. Marvin had some good treatments on his Violin on this apparently he wasn't controlling them himself. They were done from the sounddesk. I liked this though.

For Angel Marv moved to the keyboards where he stayed for the next couple of songs.

If This Was Love followed. The arrangements on Keyboard were quiet busy and again worked well.

The first new song continued. As mentioned this struck me as very much in the Harmonics of Love flavour. I liked it and look forward to hearing the full arrangement after the Jazz CD is released. One of the lines was "How do you know when it is all over?"

We moved into another new song and this one used lots of very long backing echoes to make a good harmony section. Marv used his voice on this one too. It ends on "It's not really physical it's spiritually sexually". Again a song I look forward to hearing in the studio and I wouldn't mind seeing live again.

It was back to "Blindman" for the next song. Sometimes I felt Sonja's guitar was too low in the mix. It was there but it could have done with being a little more up front in my view.

Marv moved back to Violin for the next track. This was another new one and the one I thought Marv was most experimental on. I guess it is just the effects on the violin sound. The song might be called "One more step".

"Man He Colour" followed and again was very effective as just a duo.

Marv moved back to Keyboards for another song. This might have been "Night is for lovers"

A second new song followed and then to finish the set we got my favourite Curved Air song. "It Happened Today". Marv started out on Piano on this and then moved to violin for the solo at the end. First he captured a piano backing run that was then kept repeating. Sonja left the stage at the start of the solo. Nicely done I thought.

Sonja returned and did a Curved Air track she thought "wasn't very respectful to the song but it is fun anyway". The song was Everdance and Marvin’s Keyboard settings were very modern sounding. I am tempted to say spacey but I don't know how to describe them. Sonja was right though. It was fun.

This then merged into Back Street Luv and the gig was sadly over. The crowd wanted more but were too few in number to get going on a real chant.

After the show it was really nice to be able to chat with the other fans and Sonja came out and had a drink. Marv was a bit slow. I have curiously been e-mailing him for about 3 years just as a friend so it was quite a coincidence when he got together with Sonja about a year back. It was really nice to meet him in person. He is a really nice bloke and as I say I think his collaboration with Sonja will produce very good results.

It was a great night out for me and I would have liked to make it to Sheffield to see the other date but (un)fortunately I am going to Holland to see Arjen Lucassen's Star One featuring Ayreon and that is going to be something special too.

Star One Featuring Ayreon - De Boerderij, Zoetermeer - 28 Sep 2002

See separate page

Star One Featuring Ayreon - 013, Tilburg - 29 Sep 2002

See separate page

Karnataka/John Lawton Band - Mean Fiddler - 28 Nov 2002

We had not intended doing this gig but Praying Mantis's touring Keyboard player Leon Lawson is now playing with John Lawton and I thought it would be nice to go and see him. As my previous reviews suggest I am not a big fan of John Lawton. I think I probably described the music as B class rock and the sort of stuff I would enjoy in a pub.

Tonight therefore I was pleased to get the impression the whole band has stepped up a gear. I like Errol the guitar player's work in particular and John Lawton's voice is very good. The songs still don't do an awful lot for me but the set seemed enjoyable and even Maria thought it was better than when we last saw him.

There seemed to be a bigger crowd for John tonight no doubt because of the Uriah Heep Festival weekend. He seemed to thrive on the relaxed friendly atmosphere and the crowd certainly enjoyed the set. I was surprised to find I didn't spot more than a couple of songs that I remember hearing before so that always makes it tricky for the to enjoy a set to a maximum.

Having Karnataka as support was definitely a major motivation for me. I have been following them for over a year now and really enjoy them live perhaps more so than on CD. They are probably Maria' s favourite current band so we were sure to enjoy the set.

I misjudged where we were in London and we only got to the gig in time to hear the intro of "Karnataka" from the new album, as my bag was being checked on the stairs. Rather annoyingly the Internet said the show started 7.30 and the band had come on at 7.15. The Mean Fiddler has a really strict and early curfew so I had half expected this and I had intended being at the gig for 7.00. It is still frustrating though. Having said this it probably meant we got a 1hr set instead of a 45min one.

Once we were in it was great to see the band again. The band are now able to fully promote "The Delicate Flame of Desire" and as a consequence they did a lot of the album. I am not sure there was anything particularly new to me (perhaps “Strange Behaviour”) as they played a lot of the new album when I saw them earlier this year. I am still only just digesting the album but live it is good to watch the girls mucking about and I really love the guitar work.

The girls seemed to being vamping it up even more tonight and actually seemed to be playing to the average bloke's lesbian fantasies. There is certainly no doubt Anne Marie and Rachel get on well and have a good laugh on stage. I also couldn't help wondering if they will do themselves an injury with all the backwards back curling.

Anne Marie is on the new album but since it was recorded late last year and early this Anne Marie's role in the band had not fully developed. The band live therefore even on the new songs are a completely different beast. Anne-Marie is only backing vocals but she does sing a lot of parts and she is full power on quite often during the night.

I was pleased to see the band kept "There Must Be A Way’??? in. I think this is my favourite and I am now rather fond of "The Right Time" too. I can't help feeling it reminds me of Steve Hogath's Marillion but it is a great song all the same. It is also great to see Jon playing a couple of nice solos in it. He is a little reluctant to do this as a rule but it really makes my day when he does.

We are planning to go and see the band in Deal in December and it was be great to take in a full set again.

Karnataka
Time Standing Still
Can’t recall the title but it started with something like “One more romance lost in the stars it's no surprise”
Delicate Flame Of Desire
I should have Known
After The Rain
The Right Time
There Must Be A Way
Strange Behaviour
The Journey
Heart Of Stone

The crowd wanted an encore but there was no time.