Ladies and Action Men
My report of last night's proceedings. I'd like to be brief and concise, but then there's lots of things we'd like. This will no doubt be extended by contributions from Tony and Nick R in due course, but you're getting my bit first as the electricity supply currently (ha!) pulsating within Unstately Nationsounds Manor is keen and leaping fresh.
Before the show, Malcolm was chatty, amiable and anxious. So fairly normal pre-gig behaviour then. I suggested he should leave that sort of stuff to me, because I could add blind panic as well. Familiar persons, apart from the aforementioned Tony and Nick R, were Gina, Richard Treece and Ken Whaley. We all sat about 3 inches away from the stage, ready to pounce should he not look anxious enough. Besides, we like to see artists suffer, particularly sensitive ones.
Malcolm was ably accompanied on stage by Hope Grant, who also appears on MM's 'Aliens' CD. The venue itself is a room attached to The Plough in Walthamstow. The attendance was about 50 people which was a comfortable, cosy and intimate number, allowing Richard and I to swap seats and cause the greatest amount of inconvenience and moral breakdown as we did so. Hurrah!
For equipment fans, Malcolm played Acoustic and Spanish guitars and a Roland SW8 keyboard to provide traditional keyboard sounds, whilst Hope had an Ensonic EPS16 which provided the backings. This does not mean, however, that they were about to turn into Depeche Mode.
They started with Jerry Reed's 'Big Boss Man'. Malcolm played the Spanish guitar and sang. We edged half an inch closer and that seemed to do the trick. The atmosphere was friendly and enthusiastic, we were off. Sorry, they were off. Second was 'Loving Yourself' which I think is a Hope original. He took the vocals on this and it was quickly apparent how good a combination they are, particularly from the vocal point of view.
Tasteful pseudo-accordion was apparent from one of the two keyboards during the third number, JJ Cales 'Magnolia', but I couldn't actually see who was responsible. However, the short list is down to two. This was sung by Malcolm. Next was Oscar Brown's 'Afro Blue' which Malcolm had previously performed with Alex Gray.
This was followed by Paul Weller's 'Broken Stones' which Hope sang whilst Malcolm switched to keyboards. 'Naked As The Night', from 'Lost And Found' was next, with Malcolm playing his Acoustic Guitar for the first time. He switched back to keyboards for Hope's 'We Don't Want Your Kind' and back to Spanish for the final song from the first set, Tim Hardin's 'Hang On To A Dream'.
I have to say that Malcolm's enthusiasm for the guitar has skyrocketed since he started using the Spanish ? there was no holding him during some of those solos, I think I might have cracked Tony's ribs at one point elbowing him with my boyish enthusiasm.
I'd better hand over to the others for part 2.....and I believe we have photographic evidence to follow in due course... meanwhile, thanks to Malcolm and Hope for the entertainment, it really was a pleasure to see him/them, the atmosphere was great and I fully expect all of you to be there next time. I'm not the sort of person to insist, but I insist!
