Sunday, February 05, 2012
It Won't Be Long 'Til Summer Comes
Yeah, it's been a while.
Caught between being busy with the stuff of life and seeing people I'm highly familiar with, there's been a bit too much doing going on and therefore a bit less writing about it, but better that way round.
A mere seven weeks since my last gig, I'm expecting to buy a ticket on the door but greeted by ticket office staff ensuring I'm only collecting a prepaid ticket before referring me to a guy with a couple of spares to shift. Outbreaks of humanity in the ticket office are to be recognised and applauded!
Handing over a trifle under face value, there's a search for a seat somewhere I'd no particular plan to be. So I'm up in the roof, with only two rows behind me. Proper up in the roof, at the level of the lighting frame, the one bolted to the ceiling that the lighting rig itself hangs off. At something like seventy foot above the stage, it's a view I don't often have.
I didn't get there in time for the first support, but I'm in my seat to sit through Clutch. Imagine Reef doing Helter Skelter if Gary Stringer's dad was Brian Blessed and you're pretty much there. Nice chunky bluesy guitar sound, but the most exciting bit is when someone taps me on the shoulder to wake me up when he could have just walked past me; there's a lot more legroom up there to accommodate the rake of the balcony sections.
With John Sykes busy with the perming solution, Scott Gorham has hauled in Brian Downey and Darren Wharton, a prospect that clinches my decision to go. Dare were a great band, but it's Downey that legitimises this line up for me. No, it's not Thin Lizzy, whatever it says on the ticket, but it's the most authentic tribute act I'm ever going to see.
The Almighty are a band of my generation, one I never quite got on with over a number of gigs over the years. Ricky Warwick's solo act I enjoyed rather more, and his stepping into Lynott's shoes works better than might be expected. Downey's easy shuffle drumming is bulked out by Marco Mendoza's robust bass-playing, and the unexpected highlight is Damon Johnson's guitar work.
Starting off on the big white guitar he sounded a little bit off, but once he switched to something closer to the to the classically styled Les Paul it sounded a lot more right. Still not sure why Gorham wasn't doing more of the solo work - allowing the younger man the spotlight or having some kind of trouble or somewhere in between, it's unclear, but in any case Scott still nails the diddle-iddle-iddle-iddle-iddle-iddle-iddle-diddle solo in Waiting For An Alibi.
So, I can now include Brian Downey in musicians I never thought I'd get to see, and for that alone it was worth it. And yes, I probably will track down the re-re-remastered versions of the albums which have been available in the last couple of years but am I rushing out to get a ticket for the next clutch of dates? Not right now, no.
Are You Ready
Jailbreak
Bad Reputation
Don't Believe A Word
Killer On The Loose
Dancing In The Moonlight
Massacre
Angel Of Death
Still In Love With You - Wharton\Warwick mixed vocals
guitar solo into
Whisky In the Jar
Sha La La
drum solo into
Suicide
Waiting For An Alibi
Cowboy Song
The Boys Are Back In Town
-----
Emerald
Rosalie
Roisin Dubh (Black Rose)
_
Caught between being busy with the stuff of life and seeing people I'm highly familiar with, there's been a bit too much doing going on and therefore a bit less writing about it, but better that way round.
A mere seven weeks since my last gig, I'm expecting to buy a ticket on the door but greeted by ticket office staff ensuring I'm only collecting a prepaid ticket before referring me to a guy with a couple of spares to shift. Outbreaks of humanity in the ticket office are to be recognised and applauded!
Handing over a trifle under face value, there's a search for a seat somewhere I'd no particular plan to be. So I'm up in the roof, with only two rows behind me. Proper up in the roof, at the level of the lighting frame, the one bolted to the ceiling that the lighting rig itself hangs off. At something like seventy foot above the stage, it's a view I don't often have.
I didn't get there in time for the first support, but I'm in my seat to sit through Clutch. Imagine Reef doing Helter Skelter if Gary Stringer's dad was Brian Blessed and you're pretty much there. Nice chunky bluesy guitar sound, but the most exciting bit is when someone taps me on the shoulder to wake me up when he could have just walked past me; there's a lot more legroom up there to accommodate the rake of the balcony sections.
With John Sykes busy with the perming solution, Scott Gorham has hauled in Brian Downey and Darren Wharton, a prospect that clinches my decision to go. Dare were a great band, but it's Downey that legitimises this line up for me. No, it's not Thin Lizzy, whatever it says on the ticket, but it's the most authentic tribute act I'm ever going to see.
The Almighty are a band of my generation, one I never quite got on with over a number of gigs over the years. Ricky Warwick's solo act I enjoyed rather more, and his stepping into Lynott's shoes works better than might be expected. Downey's easy shuffle drumming is bulked out by Marco Mendoza's robust bass-playing, and the unexpected highlight is Damon Johnson's guitar work.
Starting off on the big white guitar he sounded a little bit off, but once he switched to something closer to the to the classically styled Les Paul it sounded a lot more right. Still not sure why Gorham wasn't doing more of the solo work - allowing the younger man the spotlight or having some kind of trouble or somewhere in between, it's unclear, but in any case Scott still nails the diddle-iddle-iddle-iddle-iddle-iddle-iddle-diddle solo in Waiting For An Alibi.
So, I can now include Brian Downey in musicians I never thought I'd get to see, and for that alone it was worth it. And yes, I probably will track down the re-re-remastered versions of the albums which have been available in the last couple of years but am I rushing out to get a ticket for the next clutch of dates? Not right now, no.
Are You Ready
Jailbreak
Bad Reputation
Don't Believe A Word
Killer On The Loose
Dancing In The Moonlight
Massacre
Angel Of Death
Still In Love With You - Wharton\Warwick mixed vocals
guitar solo into
Whisky In the Jar
Sha La La
drum solo into
Suicide
Waiting For An Alibi
Cowboy Song
The Boys Are Back In Town
-----
Emerald
Rosalie
Roisin Dubh (Black Rose)
