Short version
Not somewhere I've visited before, Band On The Wall, on the outskirts of Manchester city centre, is a popular and well-organised venue which I'd certainly be happy to enjoy again. A good sized music room; a low, wide albeit slightly shallow stage; strong lighting; all plus points. From my chosen vantage point front-left of stage, the sound balance was poor though, with vocals far too low in the mix, Shane's drums dominating, while Malcolm was often inaudible. I'd be interested to hear what others in different parts of the room thought.
Bar prices at city levels as you'd expect, what with Manchester being a city and all. We do have them up here, north of the M1/M6 interchange. Venue staff were pleasant and helpful. Security very evident, largely as a result of the city's bad experiences over recent years, and not predominantly because Man crowds have such a notorious history of violent behaviour if Bananas isn't played, or if Belgian policemen interject themselves in an unwelcome manner.
The audience was somewhere in the region of 80-120 people, I didn’t run a precise survey. We were busy without being cramped. I was pleased to see a few familiar faces, but perhaps it was even more comforting to see so many I didn’t recognise. Later reactions to the show confirmed that we were here specifically to see Man, this wasn’t just a Friday night in Manchester crowd.
How would the current line-up be settling in after the first few dates on this 50th Anniversary tour? Alright?
Certainly.
Time was tight, a maximum 90 minute slot from 8:30 to 10:00, as most Manchester venues transform from live shows to DJ oriented club scenes for the late show crowd. Still, security were present, so that’s ok. It meant we saw a set rather truncated from the Half Moon, Putney experience.
No “And In The Beginning” tonight, so straight into “Sudden Life”. Josh taking lead vocals on this one. From their first album Revelation, this is one of the songs that established the template for the best Man music over the next five years. It’s a sum of many parts: strong lead riffs; simple dismissive lyrics (“you’re playing with fire but I don’t really care”) over equally simple but effective chord structures; unexpected key and tempo changes; huge mood swings between the verses and the guitar solos; atmospheric keyboards swirling and bending reality in the background. A big cheer from the crowd signalled that this was indeed what we wanted to hear.
Mad On Her – An inimitable Martin song, wrapping up a high-calorie slice of commercial pop inside the greasy wrapper of a familiar Manband stomp. Great vocal harmonies from all (except the audience, we were crap
). James casually throws in one of Micky’s great off-the-wall solos, all bends, whammy bar and complete and utter disregard for the changes.
Romain – Retelling the tale of Martin’s unwanted engagement with a Belgian policeman of that name. A “not quite 12-bar blues” arrangement designed to catch out the unwary. Josh takes the first verse and first solo. Martin sings the rest as it is, after all is said and done, his story. James plays the second solo, starting on slide and finishing without. The closing section showcases the dual-guitar attack, with James and Josh using different but equally effective intervals than those which Micky and Deke employed in times gone by.
C'mon – taken at a blistering pace, perhaps even faster than the Pugwash years, so think Friday 14th rather than Friday 13th. C’mon has been through so many evolutions since 1972, it’s proven to be a timeless classic. Worth more than even 6 or 7 shorter, but less multi-dimensional, songs (Joan, I hear you, but disagree
), it takes you away to places in the imagination others cannot lead you to. This is about the music, not the song. From the opening ‘making noises’ section (comment copyright R. Leonard, circa 1975), James leads in with a delay-light version of the spacy arpeggio that sets the scene. Everybody helps build the stage, until James slips into the diminished Cm riff which forms the backbone to the vocal section. The audience, either in recognition or respect of the intro, raise a huge cheer. We all know the double thump which signals the end of the intro and the start of the song. This is a Man crowd. Josh and James predominate on the verses, a headlong rush until we hit the big switch into the more reflective middle section. Malcolm steps up with his first synth solo of the night, with bends and modulations aplenty, James takes up the baton during the (unsung) “Aahs” section and continues in a similar vein before closing the section with a few “Call Down The Moon” phrases. The transition back into the vocal section is a tricky one, executed with grace and confidence tonight (Yes, I know: I met Grace, but Confidence wouldn’t speak to me). Another headlong rush through the closing verses, and then a glorious leap over the cliff-edge of the finish. A tour de force.
Manor Farm – Written largely by Josh, Manor Farm is “Spunk Rock pt2” using a similar arrangement but with different riffs, chord structures and lyrics of course. You’ll get what I mean when you hear it, either live, or from the limited tour edition Mojo Train EP or from next Spring’s new album release. After the show Martin described Josh’s approach when offering the song for the first time as being “Here, this one sounds a bit like Man, why don’t we try it?” “A bit like Man” counts as the understatement of the year so far. If you like early-seventies Man, then this is probably what you like.
The Holy Flames Of Freedom – A second new song which has the unmistakeable early Man stamp on it. I had been out of the room last week when this was played so, other than the EP, this was the first time I heard it. In many respects it bridges the substantial gap between Revelation and Reanimated Memories, echoes of both Neolithic and Recent Man being present. For me tonight’s performance was hampered by the poor vocal mix, being buried too deeply under the instruments. It does feature another of Martins more preacher-man lyrics though, “Where were you when they lit the holy flames of freedom”? Actually, I may well have been at home listening to be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day. Much depends on when they were lit.
.
Blown Away – At last I’ve heard it played live all the way through! I know I only had to wait a week, while others had to wait for a few decades. Malcolm steps out of the shadows and into the spotlight centre stage. His delicate touch on acoustic guitar, a Lowden I believe, and his quiet passion in the vocals are wonderful. Blown Away perfectly illustrates the influence Man had on Help Yourself, and the influence the Helps had on Man during the All Good Clean Fun period. Blown Away changes gear several times during the few minutes it’s with us. A joy.
Spunk Rock – Ok, I was going crazy last week, but not quite the way I thought I was going crazy. At the Half Moon I convinced myself I had heard “Would The Christians Wait Five Minutes, The Lions Are Having A Draw”, but I hadn’t. What I had heard, and mistook for something else, was a few quotes from “Alchemist” which soon morphed into the outstanding performance of the night, in the shape of “Spunk Rock”. James is all over this one, taking the lead vocals and all the lead guitar work. The current arrangement is closest to the original release on 2ozs, so maybe should be regarded as “Spunk Box” rather than the “Spunk Rock” it soon evolved into live. Micky’s panic-stricken original vocal has been softened by James, whose voice is in a similar register, but the lyrics follow the same melody and structure. The changes are all very familiar. After 49 years of road testing they should be. The lead riffs are engrained in Man DNA, but again here James and Josh play the unison parts with a different interval, which bring them out really clearly and distinctly. The boys have been practising. When I say James is all over this song, what I mean is he owns it. I’ve never heard better guitar playing on this song from
any guitarist in Man, and I’ve heard them all (except Pugwash, which probably doesn’t count
).
Bananas – a staple. For those in need of a diet rich in potassium, look no further. While much of Man’s repertoire over the years has been earnest and in some cases quite lead-footed, Bananas is not in that category. It’s supposed to be light and funny, disrespectful and engaging. Every really great rendition of Bananas is different to all others. I remember with joy how in his finest years Micky would throw in a few jazz-chord variations into the middle sections, or slip a woodpecker impersonation into his delay-rich cameos after the first verses and before Deke led the rest of the band back in. Little touches, little changes, new delights. That’s what we got. James is taking a similarly adventurous approach and, for me, is where the real heart of Man currently resides. He’s not simply repeating what Micky played but, more importantly, is playing the way Micky played.
As time was restricted, we were not going to get an encore, so Martin just advised us we would be treated to one last big song. Many Are Called, But Few Get Up. – I’ve told you this before, it’s my favourite Man song and I can speak no more highly than this on anything. It has everything and more. Nearly perfect tonight, all the spiky riffs and tricky changes, abrupt guttural stops in the vocals, weird noisy bits, were all played with distinction. Malcolm’s take on Deke’s “bacon and eggs” solo – not the easiest thing to emulate on keyboards - brought a huge smile to my face. You don’t realise how much you miss certain things until you’re reminded of them. The one glitch? Shane, through an excess of enthusiasm no doubt, hit the first snare crack of the closing crescendo a second before everyone else was ready for it. Wages are being docked I presume.
We did try for an encore, a valiant effort from everyone who was there, but it was not to be.
