unevendays's Last.fm Journal

Fish, 20-21/10/12

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 19:09:50 +0000

Sat 20 Oct – Fish Convention 2012

Many thanks to Youtube user adperry0 who has kindly posted a ton of awesome videos that I have added in below to illustrate my ramblings. Three cheers for Mr Adperry0.

After a nightmare journey featuring a three hour delay on flights and a 20 minute delay on trains, we made to the venue in Leamington in time (just) for the first acoustic slot. This was featuring the wonderful Mickey Symmonds on piano, playing mostly Vigil related material - with a certain amount of clowning while Mickey tried to work out how to play the songs in the new keys that they're played in these days. I much prefer State of Mind with that extended keys solo in it!

Following the acoustic set were a couple of panel activities, and a documentary screening, before the venue was cleared for the night's performance. Doors reopened at 7 and we poled up early to be down the front - possibly a first for me at a Fish gig. First, support from It Bites. Here, our placing turned against us as John Beck's keys were right at the front of the stage and totally obscured his head. Oops.

My view of essentially John Beck's crotch. I may be a fan of keyboard players, but this was not deliberate.

I was quite excited to see It Bites, as I was a big fan of Kino who are essentially the same band barring Pete Trewavas on bass. Admittedly the It Bites drummer wasn't on the record but he did play when I saw them live so I think that counts. Anyway, around the time I was playing Picture loads I also got some old It Bites records (they were cheap) but hadn't really got around to getting the new stuff. So when they played Kiss Like Judas, I knew that, but pretty much all of the rest of the material was new to me. That didn't turn out to be a problem, though - I absolutely loved it.

Then on to the main set from Fish, which opened with the hotly anticipated Grendel. Not featuring the famous 'Grendel mask' (I am starting a campaign to call it the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial Replica Helmet but I don't think it'll catch on). I've always had a sneaky soft-spot for this song, and while first getting into Marillion in 2002, it was actually the first Marillion song I knowingly heard, and I'm still here! I guess I'm just a sucker for Anglo-Saxon epic poetry. When those first few notes were played, the roof was definitely raised a few feet, and the crowd sang pretty much the entire song, including instrumentals.

Frank Usher was sounding at his most Steve Rothery-esque and Foss Patterson did a great job on producing appropriate keyboard widdly-widdly. It was bloody brilliant.

Then we got Credo and Assassing, both great upbeat numbers, followed by Vigil, featuring the customary walkabout in the crowd. Owing to the high stage at Leamington, this was somewhat more challenging than usual! After that, Steve Vanstis was called back for bass duties to play some new material and some Thirteenth Star stuff. Really enjoying the new bass player, but it's always nice to see Steve V.

Crucifix Corner sounds really interesting, and I'm quite looking forward to the new album (especially as above Steve V is working on it). It was fab to hear Mr 1470 as well - I was actually just saying the other day (literally) that I hoped that would get put back into the set as it was a great song. I'd been listening to Suits to get myself in the mood for the weekend, and it's my favourite song from the album. Especially with the archaeology connection ("We are the sons of 1470")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_1470

Second day had the second acoustic set, this time Foss doing most of the piano duties, rather excellently I thought. Torch Song was a notable song played, although I was torn about hearing it as I'd really, really like to hear an electric version.

However, highlight has to go to Raingods with Zippos/ Wake Up Call, featuring the implausibly talented Tony Turrell on piano.

Afternoon activities were a screening of Fish's new film Electric Man, a Q&A and gag reel with the director/ writers, a Weakest Link session and part 2 of the documentary.

The evening's gig was opened by The Reasoning. Now I'd seen them before and not been much impressed, but I knew that the aforementioned Mr Turrell was now a member, so we went to see them anyway. And believe it or not, I suddenly found I really liked them. I don't know if I was having a bad day the last time I saw them or if they were, or if they're just more to my taste with the addition of TT, or what, but I'm not complaining! I obviously didn't know any of the songs, but particularly enjoyed Tony's extended keys medley introduction to one of them that included Also Sprach Zarathustra.

The Fish set opened with Script (good start!), featuring another enthusiastic crowd singalong

The rest of the set contained a healthy dose of classic Marillion including He Knows You Know, Jigsaw, featuring particularly nice piano from Foss, and, excitingly, Freaks.

There was also a bit more new stuff and Dark Star featuring Steve Vanstis back on bass, plus stuff like Pilgrim's Address and Lucky, which is finally back in the set after being given a rest that maybe lasted a smidge too long? ("Coulda been you! Coulda been me! Coulda been aaaaanybody but he was born lucky!")

Internal Exile/ Market Square Heroes finished the main set, which is one hell of a combination. MSH does sound a bit strange in the new key, but it's still absolutely great live and a brilliant ending song. A finale second performance of Grendel and a second, final encore of The Company to round it all off. Everybody, ballet dancers!

So yeah, I guess you could say I enjoyed it.

The Imagined Village, 18th Feb 2011, Derby Assembly Rooms

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:33:07 +0000

Fri 18 Feb – The Imagined Village

Support was from Duotone - Barney Morse-Brown (Imagined Village cellist)'s side project. He had one other guy with him, but other than that a full band sound was achieved with very, very clever use of live sampling. I really enjoyed their set and even bought a CD! Video below (haven't watched it yet so not sure what the quality is live!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8akp8LCp3Y

http://www.garrettbrownmusic.com/

The Imagined Village themselves were absolutely stunning. I have to admit to being slightly disappointed that Martin Carthy wasn't there but you can't blame him (his wife Norma Waterson has been very seriously ill). Instead we had Jackie Oates, who was pretty good actually! Her voice went surprisingly well with Eliza Carthy's despite being completely different in every possible way. The rest of the band consisted of Chris Wood (Best Original Song winner at the Radio 2 folk awards this year!), Simon Emmerson (of the Afro-Celt Sound System), Andy Gangadeen on the drums (played drums on Massive Attack's Mezzanine among other things), an awesome sitar player called Sheema Mukherjee, Ali Friend on double bass, Simon Richmond on noises, samples, keys and theramin, and the amazing Johnny Kalsi on percussion (tablas and a dhol and things).

They did a lot of new material (apparently there is a new album coming out this year - can't wait!) plus some from the first two albums. Songs I remember are "Cold, Haily Rainy Night", "John Barleycorn", "Space Girl", "The Handweaver and the Factory Maid" and "The Lark in the Morning". Eliza Carthy was on top form - she really knows how to put on a great performance, doesn't she? One of the best bits was an instrumental by Johnny Kalsi - great stuff! I also particularly enjoyed Jackie Oates and Eliza's violin duetting, and the theramin, and the superb sitar playing. To be honest, there's not much I didn't really enjoy!

Song from Jackie Oates and the Imagined Village below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toyOPe0rfqU

Squeeze, Aberdeen Music Hall, 22nd Nov (Lightning Seeds support)

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 15:28:50 +0000

Mon 22 Nov – Squeeze

The Lightning Seeds:
I remember the Lightning Seeds from when they were big in the 90s. I had an album and everything. I hadn't realised they had reformed and when I heard they were to support Squeeze I was quite impressed. When they actually started I enjoyed them even more than I expected. I knew quite a few songs and was reminded of how much I liked them first time around. I really enjoyed Pure and Lucky You and would have been happy for a longer set (not something I often say about support acts!).

Squeeze:
It wasn't my idea to see Squeeze but after watching Chris Difford on that songwriters program recently I was quite happy to go - and I didn't regret it. The band were on top form - particularly Glen Tilbrook and keyboard player Steve Nieve (ex the Attractions). I might admit to having developed a tiny crush on Steve Nieve, he was absolutely wonderful.

Highlights included Goodbye Girl (including a hysterical dance boy band style dance routine), Pulling Mussels from the Shell, Tempted, Up the Junction and Cool for Cats.

Paul McCartney, Hampden, 20th June 2010

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:23:12 +0000

Sun 20 Jun – Paul McCartney, Sharleen Spiteri

I was a bit lukewarm about this gig, as I've had bad experiences with Hampden before. However, we had pretty good seats, and it was Paul McCartney. A real live actual Beatle. That has to be worth a go, right?

It certainly was. Support was from Sharlene Spitteri, who was pretty good. She played most of her big Texas hits and about pulled off the tricky task of entertaining a stadium full of people waiting for someone else. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Texas and really enjoyed it!

Then, of course, was the main event. Actual real live Paul McCartney. On a stage. Where I could actually see him (and not just a blob that I could point to and say 'I think that's Paul McCartney'. That was pretty good. And then there was the actual gig. His band were excellent - the drummer particularly was great, and very entertaining to watch. There was a very amusing bit in 'Everybody's Gonna Dance tonight' when he was playing the drum with his feet whilst dancing. Paul's voice was also pretty great considering his age, so musically, pretty good. Obviously the sound wasn't that great as it was a bloody great stadium with an echo of its very own, but as stadiums go it wasn't bad. He also played a pretty good set, containing a lot of Beatles songs, including a nice version of 'A Day in the Life' and a ukelele version of George Harrison's 'Something'. Not sure I entirely approve of the uke version but it morphed into the real one part way through and there was a lovely slideshow of beautiful pictures of George. Other highlights were 'Band on the Run' which was excellent, and 'Live and Let Die', which was the highlight of the show for me. Not because the song was great (although it was pretty good) but because of the pyrotechnics and the fireworks. It was a great little display. I could even feel the heat from the pyrotechnics from my seat!

The final suprise of the evening (although we'd heard about it beforehand) was a full pipe band, bagpipes and drums and everything, for Mull of Kintyre. Now it's a pretty lacklustre song, but when you've got a stage full of bagpipes, even that becomes a bit cool. It was a pretty good gig!

The Bad Shepherds, The Lemon Tree Aberdeen, 16/09/10

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:19:37 +0000

Thu 16 Sep – The Bad Shepherds

The Bad Shepherds are a punk covers band. Who happen to use folk instruments. They consist of actor Adrian Edmondson (mandolin), Troy Donockley (Uilean Pipes plus assorted whistles) and Andy Dinan (fiddle) and originally contained folk legend Maartin Allcock. It works strangely well.

Support was from Myke Black (http://www.myspace.com/mykejayblack) at the Lemon Tree, and we were a bit bemused to see there was a proper metal barrier and everything. I was a bit concerned this meant they thought there would be people trying to storm the stage and I should have worn my big foot-stomping boots and knuckle-dusters to protect myself from being flattened by the aggressive punk audience. Turns out it was actually so they could have a press pit down there. A press pit? In the Lemon Tree? Really? Well, apparently so.

They opened with a lovely Uilean pipe solo which developed into "Anarchy in the UK" - which was fabulous. The evening continued along these lines with such punk classics as "God Save the Queen" and "London Calling" as well as "Up the Junction" by Squeeze, "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" by the Jam and "Panic" by the Smiths (I much preferred it to the original version!). They also did a "complete hits of the Ramones" in one song which was pretty fantastic, "I Fought the Law" and "No More Heroes" by the Stranglers which I particularly liked.

The encore was a selection of dance tunes, excellently performed.

Definitely recommended to folkies and punk lovers alike - I enjoyed it a lot. Although I would have liked to have heard their superb version of "All Around my Hat"

Fairport Convention, Whitehall Theatre Dundee, 28/02/09

Sun, 1 Mar 2009 11:36:48 +0000

Sat 28 Feb – Fairport Convention Winter Tour 2009

The Whitehall Theatre in Dundee was a surprise to see on the Fairport tour dates list and as it's only an hour's drive away I decided that it would be rude not to go along. So I popped along to the Dundee city box office website and purchased 2 front row tickets for the reasonable sum of £16 each. Not bad eh?

The support were two gentlemen by the name of Ken Nicol and Phil Cool (aka Nicol and Cool, neither of whom I had heard of before. Phil Cool is, however, a rather gifted impressionist as well as a fairly talented musician. Their set was a mix of music and comedy - Phil's Paul McCartney impression nearly made me fall of my seat laughing and his 'Brian Ferry sings Bob Dylan' was hysterical. I enjoyed Ken Nicol's instrumental as well.

Fairport Convention came on to join Ken & Phil for their final song, before launching into their set. Firstly some general comments. I knew very little of the material they played. and I had heard even fewer live before. I haven't seen them that many times before, but it's still quite impressive that out of the whole night I'd only heard 3 tracks live previously and two of those are Matty Groves and Meet on the Ledge, which hardly count.

We were sitting at the right of the front row, so the sound wasn't that great for us. Particularly during the first half of the set, Simon's vocals were very low so I couldn't hear him clearly and definitely couldn't make out some lyrics. The second half was better for this (in fact I enjoyed the second half more generally).

Particular highlights for me include Reynardine (one of my favourite Leige and Lief tracks that I've never heard them play before), Doctor of Physick (one of my favourite Full House tracks that I've never heard before), Summer in December (Ric's instrumental) and the Babbacombe Lee section. I also rather enjoyed the song about the VW camper van (Keep on Turning the Wheel) especially with the Beatlesque moment at the end and the Festival Bell song.

Matty Groves was a great version and Ukelele Central was a great little number with Peggy, Chris and Ric all playing ukes, Simon on bass and Gerry with a washboard.

Ye Mariners All
Keep On Turning The Wheel
Bankruptured
Lord Marlborough
The Eynsham Poacher
Widow of Westmoreland
Reynardine
The Festival Bell
Fame & Glory
Mock Morris 90
Doctor of Physick
Summer in December
Breakfast in Mayfair
Cell Song
Hanging Song
Who Knows Where the Time Goes
Matty Groves/Dirty Linen

Ukelele Central
Meet On The Ledge

Fish @ Glasgow Academy (support from The Reasoning) & The Forgotten Sons @ Rockers 22/11/08

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:17:32 +0000

Sat 22 Nov – Fish, The Reasoning

This was the first time I had seen the 'new' Forgotten Sons, but I had seen most of the band in various guises before so I was expecting a pretty good set. And they delivered one. They mixed old 'Fish era' Marillion classics with a couple of 'h era' songs and even a couple of Fish solo tracks (Rich explained, as we were all going to a Fish gig, they thought they might as well). From when the last notes of La Gazza Ladra died away and the intro to Slainte Mhath kicked in to the end notes of Fugazi (although I'm not sure about the reggae ending...?), it was great fun.

It was great to hear Lucky live (a Fish song I don't think I've had the pleasure of hearing from the Man himself) and I am so impressed with Raingods Dancing/ Wakeup Call - that keyboard part was fantastic! Hooks in You was a great rocker, and Dry Land is always good. Of course from the old favourites, Slainte Mhath, He Knows You Know, Sugar Mice, Assassing, Kayleigh/Lavender/Blue Angel (take note Fish: finish the K/L duo with Blue Angel next time. Please.), Forgotten Sons (such a superb song), Cinderella Search, Garden Party/Market Square Heroes (now this is the way to end a gig!) and Fugazi were all fantastic fun.

I experimented with taking a few pictures with my shiny new camera and they came out not too bad - you can see them here

The Reasoning opened at about 8pm. I have to admit to being unfamiliar with the band, and felt they were a bit let down by the mix but I did quite enjoy it. I think I'd maybe appreciate it more with a CD and some time to sit and listen, rather than waiting for a Fish gig and wanting to leave as soon as possible so that we got home before Aberdeen was cut off by snow! They were definitely pure prog, which usually takes a bit of listening before it can be fully appreciated.

Fish was on at 9, and opened with La Gazza Ladra/ Slainte Mhath (hmm a sense of deja-vu here...?) as usual leading into the Circle Line, Square Go combination. The set list was pretty much the same as the last time I saw him, with the addition of Kayleigh/ Lavender and the lack of White Russian or Incommunicado. Band and Fish were on good form, with the new bassist being a solid addition to the band (however, we still miss Steve Vanstiss). There was a fair bit of amusing banter from Fish including a hilarious description of using a launderette somewhere on the continent.

The audience was very appreciative, so much so in fact that Fish came out for one last encore after having already said 'stay alive' which is usually the indication that the show is over. Sugar Mice with just Fish and Frank on guitar - very nice. Have to admit I would have preferred a few more changes to the set as I overdosed a bit on this on the first leg, but still a good fun show.

We managed to get home without getting stranded in snow (in fact it was much clearer than on the way down!) which was great. From the forecasts we were expecting Aberdeen to have disappeared under all the snow.

Marillion, Inverness Ironworks, 8th Nov 2008

Sun, 9 Nov 2008 20:36:25 +0000

Sat 8 Nov – MarillionThe Ironworks is a nice venue - I'd been there twice before, once to see Fish and once to see Magnum, so I knew what to expect. The stage is really high, so you tend to get a pretty good view wherever you are. After a half-hour wait outside the venue (apparently there had been some kind of disaster and the band were still sound-checking) we filed in, were given a pink wristband, and stationed ourselves where we had a reasonable view of the keyboards and Rothers.

Things kicked off late at about 8.40 with an atmospheric tape of h singing the 'I wanted it till I got it' segment of Nothing Fills the Hole. There was a projection screen at the back which was flashing up some of Antonio Seijas's lovely artwork and some videos as well. The band appeared one by one, adding their parts to the song, with h appearing last. He was wearing an embroidered long white coat that made him look like he'd just come from making sure it was always winter but never Christmas in Narnia. Underneath he appeared to be wearing white pyjamas... Woke Up followed immediately after - its slow start kept the mellow tone of Nothing Fills the Hole but the heavier bit was very welcome. It's one of my preferred songs from Essence, although I do find it a bit repetitive.

Next up was an oldie: Beautiful. Well, when I say oldie, I mean 1995 not 1985 but still. Beautiful has never been a favourite of mine but it was still quite nice to hear it. They played the video on the projection screen as well, which was good to see. After that, back to the new stuff: Dreamy Street. I still feel a bit like the lovely piano doesn't quite fit the vocal, but on the other hand hearing Mark play the lovely piano was nice. After that, into This Train is My Life. I think I'd probably like this song if I could get past the ridiculously clichéd metaphor. But I can't. Essence followed. I like this one apart from the 'choose life' section - I quite like the darker melody. Also has some good Mark bits. It was quite good live as well, so that was nice.

Planet Marzipan was excellent - definitely one of my favourite songs from the new album. It really, really rocks live. However, up until this point, I was still a bit of the opinion that I wouldn't have minded staying home where it was warm and cozy. But this is where it starts to get good.

Mad. The Great Escape. Afraid of Sunlight. Now, while these are not especial surprises (although the Great Escape has had a rest for a while - I've only heard that once and that was at the last convention) they are three of my favourite Marillion tracks. Yes, I thought, this is why Marillion are my favourite band. Mad had some interestingly different keys which I am looking forward to hearing again when the download of the show becomes available (hey, what happened to 'this show will be available to download from tomorrow' which I even saw on posters at the venue...?). I love it though. I really, really love it. Seriously, I don't think I'll ever get bored of this track. Ever. I love The Great Escape as well - I may have got something stuck in my eye during this one. Afraid of Sunlight is my favourite Marillion track, even my favourite song of all time, so I never tire of this one either, although I have had many listens now. It's still so good. However, the band appear to have got bored of everyone applauding before the end so didn't even finish the song! The 'Day-glo Jesus on the dash... chalk marks on the road ahead. Friendly fire in hostile waters, keep the faith, don't lose your head. So how do we now come to be...?' part was missed off completely. This is a real shame, but I can see why they've done it. Every single time I have heard the song, they've had to pause while the crowd applauded to do the end - you can check my gig reviews because I always, always moan about it!

Back to new stuff now - Thunder Fly. One of my favourite new songs, and very enjoyable live. Just that little bit different from Marillion's usual 'death-and-water-and-divorce' staples. Next was Whatever is Wrong With You, which rocks even more, even if h completely flubbs the first verse. I think this could become a live staple and deservedly so. Asylum Satellite #1 still doesn't convince me (one of the only songs from The Hard Shoulder I don't like much) but I enjoyed the King Crimson style refrain. Towards the end of the song, h scurried off-stage and when he came back we saw why. The final song from the first half was The Invisible Man. I was delighted to have this back in the set - I've missed this one! Most of the Marbles material gets quite a lot of outings, but the Invisible Man has remained invisible since the Marbles tour. I will scream again: I AM PERFECTLY SANE.

End of first half. The break before the first encore was very short - it wasn't long before Pete was bounding back on-stage to pick up his bass for Between You and Me. Another overplayed song, but one I still enjoy. Marillion don't do many short bouncy numbers and this is pretty much it. Today! I saw music in the sky! Followed up by the usual final song of the night, Neverland. Now this one really has been overplayed to the max. I'm not sure I have EVER been to a Marillion gig where it hasn't got played (as I only started going on the Marbles tour). I tried a new approach of 'listening like I've never listened it before' with limited success (it is a great song) but I've still heard it too many times unfortunately.

A break with tradition now and a second encore - Waiting to Happen! This was played at one of the Somewhere Else tours so I suppose it wasn't a huge surprise but I still wasn't really expecting it. It is a beautiful song. Dating back to 1991, this was also the oldest song of the night. I was maybe expecting a few Seasons End songs to get an airing as this is the album that's getting played at the convention, but in that respect I was disappointed and not a single one was played.

Finally - Happiness is the Road. I thought this might improve on me a lot live but it didn't really I'm afraid. I did, however, enjoy the way the band went off one by one finally leaving the audience singing 'happiness iiiiiiiissss the roooooooaaaaad' to an extended solo appearance from the Presidential candidate Ian Mosley. That was quite cool.

So all in all, I'm still not enjoying all of the new material but it sounds way better live than on record. I think we probably got a fair few more new tracks than the rest of the tour will as it was the warm-up and I think the first time any of this stuff was played live. I did enjoy myself and I'm glad I went. I'm looking forward to my download and listening to it all again.

Paul Heaton + Cerys Matthews, Glasgow ABC 25/10/08

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:55:51 +0000

Sat 25 Oct – Paul Heaton
It was a horrible, rainy day in Glasgow. We were waiting outside the ABC, just far enough away that we weren't sheltered from the rain, for a short while until finally (definitely not soon enough) it was seven pm and the doors were opened into the interior. We breathed a sigh of relief and went in and found ourselves some rather nice bar-stool like seats on the raised bar area towards the back of the venue. We had barely settled and got ourselves drinks when the lights went down and the first band of the evening came on.

the Attic Lights came on just about 7.15. The hall was still quite empty at this point, as presumably most people thought that things wouldn't be starting that early. I later found out that there was a 10pm curfew, which was the reason that everything was so early. The Attic Lights were an energetic and enjoyable indie-rock band, not quite my cup of tea but good for a half hour support. They played for just under half an hour.

Not long after at all and the stage was taken by the lovely Cerys Matthews, plus her guitarist and an interesting synth of some description. Unfortunately this only got used for one song but it sounded great! Her first two songs were in Welsh, which was quite brave of her, but I enjoyed them. Especially the second - what a brilliant folk song! Now, not to criticise the audience at all, but had it been a folk gig, people would have been clapping time.

Her set really wasn't what I was expecting, as I hadn't heard anything she had done since International Velvet, but it was pretty great! She seems to have become more of a folk/ country singer and she has certainly changed vocally since her Catatonia days. She's lost a lot of that husky rasp she used to have and she sings a lot clearer and more powerfully. I miss her old style a bit it has to be said, but she definitely doesn't disappoint. The only Catatonia song to get an airing was 'Strange Glue', which luckily for me, was always my favourite Catatonia song. Had it been me, I would have finished the set on a big hit or upbeat number, say Road Rage, but that was my only quibble with the set.

Finally, Paul Heaton took to the stage. Last time I saw him, he was fronting the superb Beautiful South with an ensemble consisting of a proper pianist and brass section, so he had a lot to live up to. The set-up for this solo gig was a stripped down guitar, drums and bass band. I have both of his solo albums, Fat Chance and his latest release The Cross-Eyed Rambler and had enjoyed both so I was optimistic about the performance. I was hoping for a couple of Beautiful South tracks and maybe even a Housemartins track with a selection of the best tracks from both solo albums. If we were really, really lucky maybe even a duet with Paul Heaton and Cerys Matthews. I'm afraid in that respect I was disappointed, as the set consisted of pretty much the entire of The Cross-Eyed Rambler with one or two from Fat Chance and absolutely nothing else.

What was played was played well and I enjoyed it, but I would rather have had a little more variety. Someone with the huge back catalogue of Paul Heaton has so much great material to choose from that it was a great shame to play almost exclusively the most recent album. However, he seemed to be very well received by the audience with football-chant style cries of 'Hea-to-onnnn!' for most of the first half of the gig and enthusiastic applause so presumably I was in the minority. Highlights for me from his set included 'I do', 'Little Red Rooster' and 'The Pub'.

The Cosmos Rocks - Queen + Paul Rodgers at the SECC, 11th October 2008

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:10:08 +0000

Sat 11 Oct – Queen & Paul Rodgers

We arrived at the SECC well in advance as a) we wanted to beat the traffic and b) it was Queen so we wanted to be down the front. We wandered into the SECC shopping complex/ airport/ village, got some food, ogled the merch stand and then went and sat ourselves in one of the already-long queues to get through the doors at 6.30. We were told once again that we weren't allowed to take little plastic bottles of water into the gig with us (presumably in case we, well, drink it?) although they did give us little paper cups to pour the water into to make up for it.

Once the doors opened, we were guided through the aircraft-hanger bit and into the general standing area. The stage set up has two little side wings to either side and a big catwalk down the middle, and we managed to get a position maybe 6 or so rows back and to the left of the catwalk. Not bad, we thought. We had a pretty decent view of the stage, although anything happening on the end of the catwalk was completely invisible (especially as they were lighting it from the back so if you did look around you got a spotlight in the face). The whole back of the stage was a big screen, which included artwork/video and shots of the band while they played which was good when they were out of sight.

Anticipation increased as the last-minute sound checks were done, the rock'n'roll pre-gig music got turned up loud and finally the house lights went down. The backdrop behind the stage came on to show space, not unlike the album cover, and started to approach earth. They also played the intro to the album, the 'what planet is this...?' bit.

The opening song was Hammer to Fall, which was a great energetic opener, and went into a non-stop-foot-tapping set which was absolutely fantastic. I wasn't keen on the new album, but I did really enjoy C-lebrity and Cosmos Rockin' live. I'm still not quite enjoying Surf's Up, We Believe or Say it's not True - for the last one particularly I can't understand how that song was not so much better. However, the classic Queen material all rocked spectacularly.

I enjoyed the Paul Rodgers material as well - 'All Right Now' was great as a second encore song, I liked Bad Company (I don't really know any of Bad Company's stuff although I really should - especially as the guitarist was former Mott the Hoople demi-god Mick Ralphs). I loved the way they wheeled out a baby grand piano just for that one song for Paul Rodgers to play. Seagull was lovely. I wonder if someone was reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull at the time...? The footage of Free and Bad Company from back in the 70s was great as well - I didn't realise Paul Rodgers used to be quite so pretty.

Highlights for me were Love of My Life, '39, Radio Gaga, A Kind of Magic and Bohemian Rhapsody. '39 particularly was wonderful - it started with just Brian May at the far end of the catwalk on acoustic guitar and ended with Roger Taylor on a mini drum kit, Spike Edney on a Roland piano accordion (wow, I didn't know Roland made such things!) and pretty much everyone apart from Paul Rodgers helping out. I just love the song as well. This also led into Roger Taylor doing a solo starting with his mini drum kit, Danny Miranda's bass, and back to the drum kit that was gradually built up into a full size version. Just for sheer ingenuity and inventiveness, that's probably the best rock drum solo I have ever seen.

Brian May's guitar solo with Bijou in between was spectacular as well. I loved how they used the footage and recording of Freddie. On that theme, I thought the way they did Bohemian Rhapsody was also more than wonderful. Especially the little duet between the recording of Freddie and Paul Rodgers at the end.

I was particularly impressed that the crowd didn't seem to feel the need to try and stomp on my toes, elbow me in the ribs or shove me off my feet. It was amazing! There was enough space to breathe at all times! That's usually the thing that ends up detracting from my enjoyment of shows, especially SECC shows, but this crowd was wonderfully behaved.

Set list:
Hammer To Fall
Tie Your Mother Down
Fat Bottomed Girls
Another One Bites the Dust
I Want it All
I Want to Break Free
C-lebrity
Surf's Up
Seagull
Love of My Life
'39
Roger Taylor solo
I'm in Love With My Car
A Kind of Magic
Say It's Not True
Bad Company
We Belive
Guitar Solo/ Bijou
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Radio Gaga
The Show Must Go On
Bohemian Rhapsody

Encore:
Cosmos Rockin'
All Right Now
We Will Rock You
We Are the Champions

Overall, it was a fantastic gig. It may not have been Freddie but it was the next best thing.