Just in case you don’t know the Stone Free festival at the O2 in London covers the main arena, the Indigo and a ‘Big Entrance Stage’ (misnomer) just as you come in the front doors. The event started at midday on the hottest day of the year thus far. So military precision was required to ensure that in the 30 minute interval between bands I could sneak out for a well deserved ‘cold one’ and sit down to rest my weary body. I even managed some food just before Sweet came on.
With so many acts in close succession (see the poster for timings) it was going to be a long long day.
Stone Free Festival 2017
After much deliberation I thought I’d post lots of smaller reviews rather than just one huge missive that would challenge your attention span! Just click on the links to view the reviews in the order I saw them:
The Answer The Answer bored the life out of me (however my mate loved them) and I was glad when it was over. If they are the answer, WTF was the question? The only positive thing I have to say is that the lead singer had a touch of Ronnie Van Zant about him.
Overall, a long tiring but mostly enjoyable day. Well worth the £65 fee (actually my mate gave me a free ticket, so I did the decent thing and bought the food/drinks) for an all day event.
It’s the first time I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Iron Maiden in the flesh (does seeing Bruce Dickinson in Samson in 1979 give me any brownie points?) on the last night of their UK tour.
Given last week’s previous events security was relatively tight’ish, as fans entered through airport-style body scanners while armed police were to be seen in abundance.
The Crowd
Maiden fans really are dedicated. The ‘family’ as Bruce described them. Nearly to a man/woman I’d say 85% of the audience wore their Maiden regalia with pride and in brotherhood – they are all in the same gang wherever you are in the world. The number of different t-shirts on show, from over the years, was truly staggering. The old, the young, the tattooed, the bald, the long haired, the hipsters, the normal etc. from all over the globe their hugely loyal fan base was emblazoned with the iconic Eddie skull motif. Did I mention the flags? Chatting, drinking, eating, taking pictures and exchanging stories it was like the league of nations out there – one difference WE ALL GOT ON WITH EACH OTHER.
The queue for merchandising was long and winding and time consuming, but it didn’t stop the majority of fans from buying yet another t-shirt to add to the collection. The merchandising division must rake it in, but I’ll hand it to them they do some pretty impressive stuff.
I’m just waiting for the Iron Maiden retrospective at the V&A. You listening Steve!!
The Stage
Up high in the gods, in a packed out O2 arena, enabled me to see the grandiose ancient Mayan jungle temple stage set in all it’s glory. Elaborately laid out with huge stone pillars with ramps, gaps and runs for Bruce to bound around energetically stoking up the crowd (in fairness that was an easy job!). The only Mayan thing missing was the human sacrifices – mind you many made extremely long journeys to be at the gig, so I suppose that counts! There was a steaming cauldron, pyrotechnics and the rear of the stage had constantly changing backdrops depicting the songs – oh and don’t forget a huge inflatable Eddie and the devil (guess which song that was for 😊 ??).
Two huge HD screens topped it off, so all those at the back could see with clarity. Good stuff chaps.
Iron Maiden – London O2 [28 May 2017]
Iron Maiden – London O2 [28 May 2017]
Iron Maiden – London O2 [28 May 2017]
The Gig
The sound was just pitch perfect with the band playing at ear-shredding volume without any distortion!
Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers riffed and solo’d throughout with gay abandon, whilst ‘West Ham emblazoned’ (we all have our crosses to bear) Steve Harris’s bass “machine gunned” the crowd whenever possible. Bruce is without doubt one of the greatest living frontmen in Rock and his iconic voice is simply phenomenal (all the more given the throat cancer scare a few years back). Drummer Nicko was sort of invisible behind his enormous drum kit, but thanks to the huge screens we could see he was thrashing around like a demon.
The band have been around so long that they are totally in sync with each other and they performed with energy and professionalism – “scream for me London” – and they did! A highly polished performance. Everything in this band just gels seamlessly. It’s clear that they all get on really well together. Joking and playing around on stage, they clearly were having as much fun as the fans.
Cue 15 foot Eddie who made his appearance during ‘The Book of Souls’. He stalked the band before Bruce ripped out his heart and threw it into the crowd (but sadly missed and it had to be mopped off the stage by a roadie – hey you can’t always get it right).
Much of the set came from their new album, but some old classics were there as well. For 1983’s ‘The Trooper’, Bruce wore his traditional Crimean War outfit and waved the Union Jack. Impressive stuff, the haunting sound of 20,000 voices singing ‘Fear of the Dark’ as one.
Set List
If Eternity Should Fail – [The Book of Souls 2015]
Speed of Light – [The Book of Souls 2015]
Wrathchild – [Killers 1981]
Children of the Damned – [The Number of the Beast 1982]
The Number of the Beast – [The Number of the Beast 1982]
Blood Brothers – [Brave New World 2000]
Wasted Years – [Somewhere in Time 1986]
Bruce said they had been away too long (no UK tour) and they wouldn’t make the same mistake again. They may be in their late 50’s but they have lots of life (and hair) left in them still based on this performance. I for one will be buying a ticket for their next tour.
This is Maiden, it’s what they do and it was bloody brilliant. At £50 a ticket it was a steal for 2 hours of head-banging fun.
Marko – 29 May 2017
PS – They played ‘Doctor Doctor’ by UFO before they came on and the crowd was going bonkers to the song! Well selected.
Poster – Iron Maiden – Book of Souls UK Tour 2017
PPS – Shinedown were the support act. For what it’s worth, the PA was distorted and it was a wall of mediocre impenetrable noise. Not my bag at all. Someone is sleeping with someone for them to get this gig!
Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited with Classic Hackett 2017 tour – Gig Review
So back to Steve’s roots in London for the last night of the Genesis Revisited with Classic Hackett 2017 tour. Only just made the packed London Palladium to see the start of the 2 part show (19:45 prompt). So part 1 was Hackett solo stuff and part 2 was basically Genesis stuff with his favourite songs from “Wind and Wuthering” featuring prominently. As it happens I attended my first ever Genesis gig on 22 Jan 1977, Leicester De Montford Halls, on their Wind and Wuthering tour (wow where did those 40 years go??).
Steve had his mum, sister and brother there (his brother John doing a bit of flute work on Serpentine Song – which was inspired by his late dad and the Peter Pan statue on the Serpentine in Hyde Park where he used to sell his paintings).
As always start with a classic to set the tone for the evening – welcome ‘Everyday’ which really showcases Steve’s extra ordinary guitar skills and tumultuous applause from the eager crowd (I admit I was surprised to see so many ladies in the audience – they generally don’t do prog rock).
Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited with Classic Hackett 2017 tourSteve Hackett – 19 May 2017 – London Palladium
There were a few new songs which I must admit I didn’t recognise from his ‘The Night Siren’ LP. Some were better than others but the first half closer was the full-length version of ‘Shadow Of The Hierophant’ starting with Amanda Lehmann’s high pitched vocals and just continuing to build and build repetitively, bolero like, on intensity and volume. Nick Beggs, resplendent in kilt, sat down next to his bass pedals hammering them with his fists. He was in the groove, a bleached blonde mass of hair at one with the music.
In fairness Steve and Nick are the main show stoppers in this band. Steve the maestro guitarist and Nick the flamboyant (sorry Nad) mad bassist who always looks like he is totally lost in the music and dancing to his own tune – wonderful!
We barely had time to relive our prostrates and get back to our seats in time for the second half to start.
The second half featured Nad Sylvan, with his usual period regalia outfits (like an Earl himself, puffing on an (unlit) pipe to enhance effect), on lead vocals to do the Genesis songs. Occasionally his voice let him down, just not hitting the right notes but hey, he can sing better than me any day! The only surprise of the night was the inclusion of ‘Inside and Out’ from the “Spot the Pigeon” EP (they didn’t have room for it on the Wind and Wuthering album). Phil Collins wrote the lyrics, which Steve says were great and before he got into his ‘relationship issues period’!
The encore was Los Endos with the entire audience on their feet at the end celebrating with a thunderous and sustained applause.
London Palladium Set List
Set 1 (Classic Hackett):
Every Day – (Spectral Mornings 1979)
El Niño – (The Night Siren 2017)
The Steppes – (Defector 1980)
In the Skeleton Gallery – (The Night Siren 2017)
Behind the Smoke – (The Night Siren 2017)
Serpentine Song (with John Hackett) – (To Watch The Storm 2003)
Rise Again – (Darktown 1999)
Shadow of the Hierophant – (Voyage of The Acolyte 1975)
Set 2 (Genesis Revisited with Nad Sylvan):
Eleventh Earl of Mar – (Wind and Wuthering 1977)
One for the Vine – (Wind and Wuthering 1977)
Blood on the Rooftops – (Wind and Wuthering 1977)
…In That Quiet Earth – (Wind and Wuthering 1977)
Afterglow – (Wind and Wuthering 1977)
Dance on a Volcano – (A Trick of the Tail 1975)
Inside and Out – (Spot the Pigeon EP 1977)
Firth of Fifth – (Selling England by the Pound 1973)
The Musical Box – (Nursery Cryme 1971)
Slogans / Los Endos – (Defector 1980 & A Trick of the Tail 1975)
At 67 Steve has a full head of dark hair (in fact he’s had the same haircut for donkeys) so I’m guessing his wife does a good job with the hair dye 😊. On Steve’s stage left the same goes for 56-year-old Nick Beggs with his long blond hair. Nick is the only member of the band who looks like he’s enjoying himself and getting down with the music rather than performing it ad verbatim. He played bass, 6-string and double neck stood up, sat down and generally bopping about). How did this 80’s Kajagoogoo pop man make the move to Prog?
Nick Beggs
Steve Hackett
Nad Sylvan
The second set went down much better than the first (I kind of guess there were a lot there just like me who suffered the first half to get to the gems in the second) from where I was sitting in row F of the Stalls.
So, all in all a very accomplished gig from a tight knit unit of muso’s. Prog Rock is in the safe custody of Mr. Hackett. Please continue touring with the old Genesis catalogue for as long as you can Steve – you’ll make a lot of old grey haired (or bald) men very very happy!!
The only down side was seeing the keyboard and woodwind chaps in FCK BXIT t-shirts. Stick to the music and fuck your politics chaps – we are not interested in anything but the music and I certainly don’t need preaching to – dick heads)!
Firstly, wow what a great venue directly opposite Gt. Portland St tube. Never been there before but the stage is great (raised at about 5ft) so everyone can get a good view of what’s going on. It was pretty full, not sure if it hit the 760 capacity but well over 500 ‘middle aged’ punk souls attended.
The Rezillos stage
229 Club London
Rezillos merch stall
First up were an all girl trio called The Tuts (punk pop I suppose). Lots of power chords, enthusiasm and jumping around. They managed to sneak in about 30 mins before Ken Spiers (AKA Spizz) told them to get off in no uncertain terms! They got a decent enough reception and managed to have good rapport with the ‘aged’ audience. Their set was ok and it will be interesting to see if they make it given the state of the music business these days.
Spizzenergi
To be truthful, I’d only ever heard their classic star trek single (you guess it’s title!) before so I didn’t really know what to expect but boy where they unexpectedly good! Spizz came on set glowing like a belisha beacon resplendent in LED lights pretty much all over his Spizzenergi branded trousers and t-shirt! The best was his belt buckle with an LED scrolling message display. The rest of the new band looked like a cross between the New York Dolls (guitar), Tiger Lillies (guitar) and any Emo-metal band (Bass!). A very tight knit unit that played an excellent set that really got the audience involved. It all helps when you have a charismatic front man and a few ‘oddballs’ in tow.
Spizzenergi 229 club
Spizzenergi 229 club
Spizzenergi 229 club
Spizzenergi 229 club
Spizzenergi 229 club
They played a mix of new stuff and the usual classics apparently. The two highlights for me were Soldier Soldier (an excellent song that really got the crowd going – mini mosh pit ensuing!) and the obligatory finale Where’s Captain Kirk? Keep it up chaps, I’ll be back for more!
The Rezillos
Fay Fife: Vocals, Keyboards; Eugene Reynolds: Vocals; Jim Brady: Lead guitar, Vocals; Chris Agnew: Bass; Angel Paterson: Drums
Well they didn’t disappoint, a thoroughly entertaining high energy night of science fiction B-movie punk rock. A mix of the old classics plus some of the new stuff which I unfortunately didn’t recognize but these songs seemed to blend nicely into The Rezillos stable.
Excellent visually (though Eugene was sweating somewhat not surprising as he never took off his resplendent leather jacket). Their ‘newish’ guitarist Jim can certainly play, no room for error here! I suspect since he’s been in the band the musicianship has gone up quite some notches. As Faye said ‘it’s not very punk rock’ as he was re-tuning his guitar, ‘standards’ was the retort!
The Rezillos – 229 Club London, 27 Jan 2017
The Rezillos – 229 Club London, 27 Jan 2017
The Rezillos – 229 Club London, 27 Jan 2017
The Rezillos – 229 Club London, 27 Jan 2017
The Rezillos – 229 Club London, 27 Jan 2017
The Rezillos – 229 Club London, 27 Jan 2017
Set List (Click on the links to see the YouTube videos)
Eugene, all in black with the best sunglasses ever vied for pole position with Fay in her black leather dress (yes, I could read the writing on it Fay – right up there!!). Marlon Brando meets Wilma Flintstone is a good description! The bass player and drummer were fairly anonymous but given the other three it’s probably a sensible move.
They were exceedingly entertaining, totally engaging and really got the audience stomping around (middle aged mosh pit got slightly bigger).
Really for £17.50 this was an absolute bargain of a night out (how do you make a profit guys?). I’d recommend both The Rezillos and Spizzenergi to anyone wanting to relive the spirit of 1970s punks. Go see them before it’s all too late!
Well I couldn’t wait to open the boxset – finally all the classic Free albums remastered and with original (allegedly) packaging. Alas, I only have 2 LPs from the 70’s (I missed their heyday) and a number of CDs, but doing a trawl on the web and there are plenty of people beefing about all the faults with the packaging.
Universal are claiming that the LP covers have been faithfully replicated – It would appear not quite 100%. But perhaps the original artwork was lost, and this is the best they could do in the Photoshop department? Many photos on various LPs look like facsimiles! Many too many faults in the packaging include:
Incorrect picture for Fire & Water LP (Free Live instead) on the back of the box
Sleeve photos not quite as sharp as originals on a number of LPS
Free Live LP does not have the printed stamps
Free Live fold out envelope flap, although the lower half isn’t glued
Font style/size issues on sleeves and labels…
Fraser/Rodgers credit on all albums have been reversed to Rodgers/Fraser
Fire & Water LP has a lyric inner sleeve, however the inner sleeve lyric for ‘Heavy Load’ is on side 2 (it’s the last track on side 1).
Highway LP has German gatefold sleeve (not available on the UK release)
Highway LP picture on reverse is not embossed
No Island blue inner for Free at Last LP.
Oh and a nice accompanying booklet of rare band photos and some historical archive information would have been nice!
All in all a missed opportunity to make this the ultimate box set, but it’s a belter – go out and buy it now, you’ll love it.
Free Vinyl collection – dodgy box cover!
Plus points
Simply can’t fault the music, the remasters by Andy Pearce are first class!
Well Elkie is in a good mood and the near sell-out crowd at Harlow is also. You’d never believe that Elkie is now 71 but boy does she look and sound good. Thankfully her band don’t have much of a PA stack (given the majority of the audience have free bus passes and go on Saga holidays – tee hee) so sound levels are comfortable and her extraordinary voice soars.
Now I must admit I know very little about Elkie apart from her days with Vinegar Joe, and my wife got the tickets, so I don’t actually know her own material (apart from the hits). The ‘British Queen of Blues’ had a two-part set – both interspersed with a mix of her songs and excellent covers. The first part was generally more mellow showcasing her voice and the sax, whilst after the interval it was more up tempo RnB and rock based.
Her piercing voice has its own ‘pitch-perfect’ sound (ask the drummer who looks like he should be in Iron Maiden by the way) and is well supported by some good musicians.
Songs I remember from the night (apart from her own material) include:
Fool If You Think It’s Over
Sunshine After the Rain
Lilac Wine
Pearl’s A Singer (crowd sing-along favourite)
Gasoline Alley
We’ve Got Tonight
Purple Rain
Nights in White Satin
Roadhouse Blues by far away the best bit of the night a cover of The Doors classic!
At one point she held a high note for 20-30 seconds, then fell back into the song without missing a beat.
Elkie has aged like a fine wine (not lilac obviously) – probably down to Nivea cream (she mentioned that she has contemplated plastic surgery and had used all the most expensive creams but all were useless compared to Nivea). Then added that when you’re in your 70’s you “don’t give a shit anyway!”.
I don’t own any of her songs (apart from Proud to be a Honky Woman with Vinegar Joe) but I would wager she comes into her own live on stage as opposed to vinyl – the power of her voice is a beauty to behold. At 71 she can still strut her stuff and is ‘fit as a fiddle’ as showcased on Roadhouse Blues. She looked like she was having a great time.
A simple set, no gimmicks, no flash lighting and typical no messing (telling one lady in the front row to “I’m distracted, stop videoing me please I can’t focus”) from a northern gal.
I went with some friends who were all suitably impressed. So much so that one of them commented on Twitter “Wow. Wonderful evening. Had to put my beer down to applaud”. Faint praise indeed!
She was in a good mood and by the end so was the whole audience. Ageing with attitude – come back soon Elkie.
I bought the 12” single ‘White Punks on Dope’ in 1976, probably off the back of reading about them in the music press, and was suitably impressed. A mighty fine ditty! Time passed and I got the Remote Control LP and again time passed (37 years…) and I saw they were on tour so thought why not. As it turns out it was one of the best evenings out in a long while and a snip at £28.50. I’m also going to explore their back catalogue now – I missed out on a lot.
I’d never been to the ‘Under the Bridge’ venue before (part of the East Stand at Chelsea FC) and what a little gem of a place it is. A wonderful small venue where you can get up and personal with the band!
It’s the first night of their Mondo Pulp 2016 tour (UK leg) but they are well drilled, tight knit on top form and look to be enjoying themselves (well they have already played Germany and Holland so they’ve had practice!). Roger and Prairie Prince (resplendent in a “Trump is a cunt” t-shirt – wonder who he’s voting for?) grab the musician’s limelight with their solo’s and persona but are expertly accompanied by Rick on bass and David on keyboards. Rick lends a hand with Fee’s wardrobe changes during the set as well as providing much needed balance for a certain Mr. Quay Lude. These are excellent musos at their peak!
Their theatrics are unsurprisingly scaled down but the immense Fee still dons a succession of costumes, transforming his persona and clothes from Zoot suit; Lunatic straight jacket, Venetian mask, Pill head, Johnny rocker, Gimp, Cowboy, Game show host, himself and the infamous Quay Lude to suit the songs. Fee’s certainly a born showman. For a band all in their mid-60’s they deliver a powerful 2 hour 20 minute set full of hits and omissions (e.g. TV is King, Don’t Touch me There, Prime Time).
The band loves London and England (Fee repeats it frequently) – to be fair we adopted them when their native America were somewhat ambivalent. An eclectic audience of young, old and normal (surely some mistake -ed) are enthralled with the imagery and musical styles.
During No Way Out Fee dons a cardboard box (a TV with prison bars made from drug bottles) to deliver his message that the drug companies have taken over commercial TV advertising with cures for problems you never knew you had.
The whole audience is loving it and singing along. But we are all waiting for the great drugged-out, platform-booted Quay Lewd so we can exaltedly scream out ‘White Punks on Dope’ repeatedly. We are not let down, Quay appears in all his ‘glam’our long hair/mirror glasses/24” heels and false penis throbbing through his silver spandex trousers.
The Tubes – Quay Lude London 7 Oct 2016
Quay and Rick leaving stage
The Tubes – 7 Oct 2016 – London
Quay Lude – White Punks on Dope
Highly entertaining, visually exciting and they still seem unique even after 44 odd years of excess. The Tubes should be declared a national treasure!
Thanks boys – a brilliant night.
Ps – my step daughter came along with me, she had never heard of you before, but she said she loved every single moment. A new fan is born.
It was a weekender festival but I only went to the Sunday gigs and saw Wilko Johnson, Steve Hackett, Marillion and Rick Wakeman (there were others..). Strangely only the main arena plus some VIP areas were ticketed so in effect it was open to the general public. As Wilko Johnson was playing the Indigo stage my mate came along to enjoy the gig (no he didn’t buy a ticket!). If you want to see some decent pictures of the event go to this web site Stone Free pics – better than my crap work.. Overall the event worked but there is plenty of scope for improvement e.g. large screens,
Wilko Johnson
Lots of typical Wilko RnB guitar twanging, covering his musical career from ‘Going Back Home’ (his comeback album with Roger Daltrey) and finishing on a few Dr. Feelgood classics. The tight knit trio know their stuff and Wilko looked his normal ‘wild eyed’ self using all his classic struts to move around the stage. A great pub act!
Steve Hackett (prog royalty if ever there was – even more so since he did his Genesis Re-visited CD/tours) and his excellent band did a short set of his own solo stuff plus a few Genesis classics – culminating in a spectacular ‘Firth of Fifth’.Nick Beggs was his usual flamboyant self in resplendent tartan kilt and Nad Sylvan came on to add some Gabriel-esque 70’s vibe. Great guitar solo’s and a band in total harmony – I’m sure they could do this blindfold! A real crowd pleaser.
Now I have not seen these since 1980 when Hogarth was just a Fish replacement and yes I lost touch over the years. Marillion hit the stage with ‘Invisible Man’. By the end of the song my wife turned to me a gasp at the power of the song and Hogarth’s performance (she was not looking forward to the entire event in truth, but now she is hooked on Marillion and their lyrics). I too was in awe – in all the years and hundreds of gigs I’ve been too this was the best opening song ever performed – in my humble opinion.
We were quite near the front luckily and there were grown men in abundance with their head in their hands crying at the sheer emotion of their set. This means a lot to a lot of people!
The Invisible Man
You’re Gone
Easter
Kayleigh
Lavender
Heart of Lothian
Power
Neverland
I’m now reacquainting myself with Marillion. Thanks for a great gig lads!
Rick Wakeman
The main event – The first time he has played The Myths And Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table since 1975 (not on ice this time and hopefully it didn’t bankrupt him!). As the original was on LP and around 40 mins long Rick has now reworked some songs, that never made it the first time, to extend the show. The new stuff was actually quite good and complimented the original. However, that said this would probably be better off as a London show with decent singers.
Rick resplendent in cape stood behind a bank of synths and was joined on stage by narrator Ian Lavender, a full orchestra, the English Rock Ensemble and English Chamber Choir and his son Oliver, on yet more keyboards. Bless him Tony Holt’s voice does this ‘Sword and Sorcery’ masterpiece no justice at all. He’s at best a pub singer, and this was the biggest down side of the whole set.
Rick’s keyboard wizardry is beyond compare – immense musicianship and compositional skill and dedication, the man is a grumpy old genius!
Is Rick Wakeman the last of the great ‘Rock and Roll’ keyboard players. Well given the loss of so many musos recently the answer is Yes (no pun intended). Alas Keith Emerson and Jon Lord are no longer with us so Rick is now the keeper of the flame. I’d like to add him to our list of national treasures!
Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
So apart from being a keyboard maestro extraordinaire, Rick also has many other talents – raconteur, comedian, TV and radio presenter, author, DJ and all round nice bloke.
So at Harlow playhouse a 67 year old Rick saunters onto a barren stage (slightly in awe and humble), apart from a grand piano, scruffily resplendent in black tail jacket/trousers, Laurel & Hardy t-shirt and white trainers. The stage is set for an evening of keyboard wizardry and career long anecdotes between. It wasn’t until I meet with him afterwards that I realised just how big his hands are!!
My memory is not great but it sort of went song anecdote, song anecdote etc.
Songs – either his own or ones he has worked on
Cat Stevens – Morning has Broken
Yes – And You and I plus Wondrous Stories
David Bowie – Life on Mars
Catherine Parr
A Nursery Rhyme Concerto – a series of nursery rhymes in the style of various composers – Mozart, Ravel, Debussy, Rachmaninov and Les Dawson (you gotta be good to play out of tune like that)
Merlin the Magician
Eleanor Rigby in the style of Prokofiev
Anecdotes
In this one-man show he’s got plenty of anecdotes and jokes from a long career in music and by the looks of it having worked with most people in the music and arts. But thankfully he starts at the beginning aged 5 with his piano teacher Mrs Symes (who put him on the way to stardom) and his first recital playing “See a monkey on a stick” (a tune he re-worded when he was 12!) repeatedly until pulled off stage by his mum. Mrs Symes taught him the importance of music being used to visualize painting a picture – which from an early age seemed to be inclined towards ladies bosoms!
Doing the ‘twiddly bits’ on Cat Stevens’ “Morning Has Broken” to expand it to the required length for a single release (and getting £9 for his troubles – albeit 27 years later). The ‘twiddly bits’ are not written down anywhere and he still keeps it secret to this day.
Bowie playing him the Hunky Dory songs in Beckenham on a knackered old 12 string guitar – “if it sounds great now imagine what it would sound like in a studio with a band!”
That his first solo album “The Six Wives of Henry VIII” would be of his future marriage record almost – 4 and counting currently. He jokes that one of his wives divorced simply because he didn’t hold the door open for her (he panicked and swam to the surface as quickly as possible!!), and that he passed 7 of the properties he used to own on the way to the gig.
He is an infectious storyteller combining classical music genius, a rock star back-catalogue and wonderful anecdotes form a long and varied career. Be it William Shatner’s lingerie collection or Brian Blesseds’ admiration for huge tits, or Clive Dunns crappy records – all priceless. He had the sell-out audience in stitches.
This is a man of prodigious gifts who has a loyal following, but it seems as if he is just getting on with what he does best (if he wasn’t playing here he’d be playing at home)
At the end he did a signing, generous to the end Rick has time for everyone, putting people at ease and treating them all as friends. We spoke about silent movies and our love of Laurel & Hardy and he signed many LPs for me. However, he was most interested in an old programme from 1980 (Daily Error) which he thumbed through with glee – bringing back happy memories.
Rick kindly autographed this lot for me!
Thank you Rick – keep painting those pictures! A true gentleman.
Ps – can’t wait for the Stone Free festival in June and the new and 80 minute plus expanded version of the King Arthur album!
Otway & Barrett the Final Straw tour
3 Apr 2016 Leicester Sq Theatre, London
I accidentally saw their tour poster on the web and it was so good I decided it’s about time I saw the boys again. So I smooth talked my wife into coming to this one, she’d never heard of them before (but then again thinking about it she’s in the majority!). I told her it would be an eventful night, and John and Willy exceeded my wildest expectations. It was truly a great evening out – songs (ok some aren’t that good in my humble opinion), banter, humour, audience participation all honed to a fine art over many years of experience. They reminded me of a comedy act, straight man and a somewhat wild eyed maniac, whatever it worked wonderfully. A thoroughly engaging act from start to finish.
An the best bit I managed to talk to them, have my photo taken with them and get stuff signed, plus I managed to record a few of the songs and in-between song banter which I’ve placed on my YouTube channel (links to which can be found further down this blog). Pre-gig they mingled with the assorted punters and were more than accommodating for any requests for photos, autographs etc..
Me and Wild Willy Barrett 3 Apr 2016
Me and John Otway 3 Apr 2016
Otway & Barrett Late 70’s heyday pic
The set was bare minimum – a butcher’s rail will all Willy’s assorted guitars, violin, banjo, bagpipes and homemade musical contraptions and a couple of guitars for John (let’s face it you don’t need any when your collective guitar skills amount to 6 chords – and by the way that’s 2 more then I know!!) plus a Theremin. The usual wheelie bin with speaker inside – which was used to much comical effect in various songs.
John is still as demented as ever, he always looks like’s he’s having the time of his life and so happy to be there – a mix of ‘bewilderment and wonder’. This is the 4th time I’ve seen them live but in fairness it’s been many years since I saw them last, 1981 to be precise, and John is showing the ravages of age, stress and rock n’ roll failure (a Max Wall caricature but with better legs!). Willy on the other hand just looks older and less wild! John still jumps about and rips his shirt open and plays his 6 chords with great enthusiasm. I managed to buy a picture of them from the ‘this is how I remember them’ old days which was dually signed by both, and had my picture taken with them (my wife says I should get it all framed).
The Songs
The set list and hyperlinks to the videos are listed further down, so I’m just going to mention a few songs.
Apparently ‘Natasha you’re a Smasher’ is the worst song John has written according to Willy, well not in my books it was the highlight of the show. OK so he’s not gonna win any competition for the lyrics but they played a blinder on this one.
On ‘Body Talk’ John is in his element with drum sensors strapped around his trousers – the human drum machine! He also has learnt a new instrument – the Theremin (apart from The Tiger Lillies he’s the only act I know that uses one) which showcases John at his rabid best.
‘Two Little Boys’ – WHY???
‘Racing Cars (Jet Spotter of the Track)’ – Willy is great at producing car engine noises on one of his home made guitars whilst John kills the song with his voice – as Willy says he just can’t sing!
Geneve Pt2 – where Willy starts sawing up his guitar, bashing it with a lump hammer and playing the bagpipes (he’s multi-talented). The clip finishes with Willy talking about the guitar (which was sold at the end of the show – hope it covered the cost of a new one £29.99) and prizes for the winner of their competition.
The show closes and they both mingle with the audience for one last session of autograph’s and photo’s. Please guys come back, don’t make this the Final Straw.
Ps – My wife had a great night, she’s really glad she came!
PPs – I bought his book ‘Cor Baby, That’s Really Me’ at the show (thanks for signing it John) and couldn’t put it down. Compelling reading. I’ve just ordered the follow up..
![Iron Maiden - London O2 [28 May 2017]](https://i0.wp.com/markosgigarchive.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/img_2525.jpg?w=209&h=209&crop=1&ssl=1 "IMG_2525")
![Iron Maiden - London O2 [28 May 2017]](https://i0.wp.com/markosgigarchive.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/img_2516.jpg?w=209&h=209&crop=1&ssl=1 "IMG_2516")
![Iron Maiden - London O2 [28 May 2017]](https://i0.wp.com/markosgigarchive.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/20170528_220046.jpg?w=209&h=209&crop=1&ssl=1 "20170528_220046")
Merlins 
Marko's Music Blog 