Having followed the band avidly since 1972, and attended as many gigs as I could since those halcyon days, it shouldn't come as any surprise to learn that I attended this year's only UK gig in Leamington last night and thoroughly enjoyed the event.
With Deke expected to guest for a few numbers as an added incentive this was a night not to be missed by the faithful. That said, I'd have gone even if Deke hadn't been appearing.
A fuller review and photos will appear on the Archive in due course, but overall comments and highlights are as follows:
Top marks for The Assembly as a venue. A good sized and well appointed hall, which the audience made a decent dent in but didn't fill (numbers were in the low hundreds according to my rough headcount. Quote from Michael "What? Who stands at the back and counts the heads?" I do. Especially the tall people. The PA was powerful enough and well balanced. A special mention for the drum sound, because that was the best I've heard for years. The lighting was excellent, best since the Albert Hall. The bar was large, decent value, but being limited to Coke as I was the designated driver again, I didn't exactly test the range on offer.
As anticipated the set was split into sections:
Prior to Deke arriving on stage we heard:
The Price (with some particularly muscular and agile guitar playing from James)
Mad On Her
Speak
Steal The World (these two being my second and third favourites from Kingdom Of Noise, after Shadow Of The Hand)
Stuck Behind The Popemobile
The Man With X Ray Eyes (I enjoyed this enormously, with good interplay from Phil throughout)
Deke arrived for:
The Ride And The View (marvellous all round, and much appreciated by forum member with diminutive Japanese wife)
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Daughter Of The Fireplace
C'mon (superb middle section from Phil, although I'm still not convinced about the vocals)
Many Are Called But Few Get Up
A brief intermission before we heard:
Romain
Spunk Rock (with bizarre navigation failure somewhere in the middle)
Then a longer break before we heard:
Bananas
Conflict Of Interest (Do It)
Plenty of fun had on stage, and in the audience too which is what it's all about really. No broken strings to report. Just under two and a half hours from start to finish.
There were a few rough edges here and there - which I'll expand on in the more detailed review later - but then I don't love the band because they're perfect, I love them because they're not perfect.
