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Jon Hinchliffe

Gigs 2004

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 - Norwich Art Centre - 30 April 2004

The amount of gigs I have made it to has significantly dropped lately. One of the main factors is probably lack of energy on my part but also the problem of what to do with the children. Over the last two years or so my two children have asked for couple of Mostly Autumn Cd's. Maria has two children too and Liam (10) tends to like bands but the break through this time was Becky (8) was interested in going to the show as she had seen Mostly Autumn on DVD a couple of times. This meant we had a full set of children at the gig which was really nice for us.

The Norwich Art Centre was probably not the best place to take Becky for her first concert as it was a standing gig. It was actually the first standing gig for all of them and this was not a popular feature.

It was the first time I had been to the Art Centre and it was a converted Church just like the Art Centre in Colchester. The stage was suitably raised at one end then there was a flat floor section and at the back a small raised walkway. When we arrived we dashed to the front for the children and ended up in front of Ian near a speaker. This was probably a bad move as at the start of the 2nd half Zoe (13) and Becky grabbed a space on the walkway and Liam and Maria eventually moved too. Apparently the stage was easier to see and the sound a lot less distorted. If we ever go back I must remember this. I will be surprised if Mostly Autumn plays there again though. To be honest I was surprised they were playing there anyway. Last time in Norwich they played the Waterfront. The Art's Centre was a lot smaller but the good news was it was sold out.

There was not a lot of room on stage. Ian Jennings brother on drums had a really tiny drum kit. Andy on Bass was next to him and then there was Liam on guitar. The front of the stage was Bryan on his usual left. Then Heather, Angie and Ian. Angie's keyboard was set up pointing to the audience and she stored her flute on it.

This tour when first announced was to be for the album after Passengers. The "V" shows next week were supposed to be the premier for this album. I thought it was a highly risky move by the record company to announce shows for a record that had not even been started and so it proved to be. I had heard this before I booked for this show so I had a rough idea of what to expect and I was actually pleasantly surprised. The set list has been revamped and we had a couple of new old ones in it. There was a good sprinkling of Passengers in the set but more songs from the first three albums again. This worked well for me as Passengers has never grabbed me that much. It is an OK album but for me it lacks a Mother Nature, Heroes Never Die, and Spirit of Autumn passed type attention grabber.

Having dropped "Pass The Clock" and "Mother Nature" return for the encore therefore pleased me somewhat although Abbie (11) who stayed with me at the front was struggling to keep going even though throughout the show she had bopped and interacted with me on my headbanging and enjoying of things.

To my surprise the set opened with "The Last Climb". I am not sure I have ever thought of that as an opener and Maria and I were focused on the new drummer (sorry I don't know his first name). During the first number he seemed a little basic but I soon lost focus on him and the rest of the set seemed fine. Normally at some points in the set Jonathan the previous drummer used a cowbell type sound and this used to get to Maria and me a bit. In "Spirit" I noticed he was crashing a cymbal rather hard but it didn't have the piercing distracting quality of the cowbell. I will be interested to see what he is like at the V shows if they get released on DVD. (I hope they do but how will the set be different enough to justify a new release to the press and casual fans?)

"Caught in the fold" was next then "Something In Between". This seemed to have a slower start than I remember and the whole arrangement seemed a bit revamped which I always appreciate.

"The Spirit Of Autumn Past" was followed by "First Thought" and then "Evergreen".. much to my relief as the children particularly like that one and I knew it was unlikely there would be any jigs which they were also hoping for.

Next up was "Half A Mountain" and then the first new old one "Boundless Ocean". It was good to see Bryan leave the stage and Liam step forward for an E-bow guitar solo in this.

To my surprise the set ended with "Shrinking Violet". I always associate this with "Evergreen" so I didn't expect it to be until the 2nd half if it appeared. I was glad it did.

The 2nd set started with "Darkness Before Dawn". We then had "Answer The Question" and "Passengers".

"The Last Bright Light" was the other new old song. Again Liam stepped to the front this time on acoustic guitar. I think I must need to listen to this track on cd again. I didn't recall much about it as I heard it live.

We then had "Simple Ways" and "Pure White Light" and the 2nd set then closed with "Heroes Never Die".

As mentioned previously the encore was "Mother Nature".

In the past I had registered Heather using Acoustic guitar twice during a gig. Last night she seemed to use it about 6 times. I was not as aware of her using recorders as much as previous times.

I also felt Angie was using her flute less and the keyboard more. I think she only used a recorder once and that was probably in "The Last Bright Light"

I very much enjoyed the set and almost wish I was making it to a "V" show. It would be nice but it is far too complicated and tiring to make.

Karnataka - The Oakwood Centre Rotherham - 15 May 2004

See separate page

Mask - Bar-Ginglik, Shepherd's Bush Green, London - 14 Oct 2004

See separate page