Concert Review : Never Say Nups To A Trip To Swansea

It takes a certain kind of madness to normalise in your way of thinking that a trip from Paisley in the West Of Scotland down to Swansea in South Wales as a short and perfectly manageable trip. That being the case, the madness is deep within me!

Last weekend saw another trip down to catch Man on the final date of their UK tour. A carful of four means that the petrol worked at £35 per head - plus the cost of a couple of rooms in the Travel Inn and food and drink............hell, it's cheap at the price, isn't it.

The answer is a resounding yes when you catch sight of the mighty Manband in the sort of imperious form that they were in on Saturday evening. Having failed to manage to venture further north than Leeds on this tour (and with that date proving not possible for us travelling Scots) the ecstatic reviews that had greeted the return of Phil Ryan to the ranks meant that not making the trip to catch the final night of the tour was simply an unacceptable compromise to a man's right to rock.

Having landed in Swansea at about 4.30 pm (having left Glasgow at the back of nine) we made sure that we knew where the venue was. Being a little familiar with Swansea I knew roughly where it was - too roughly it turned out as I turned off the shopping area too soon and in the wrong direction. Now if I'd just had the wit to walk a further 100 yards down the road and then headed left we'd have found it without a roundabout trip.

Having established where we'd be going, we then consulted on what our choice of food was going to be. A curry seemed to be the majority view so I led our small but perfectly formed party in the direction of a rather nice Indian restaurant where we'd enjoyed a fine meal in December when I was last in Swansea. We got there at just after 5.30 pm to discover they didn't open until 6 o'clock. Call this civilisation? Anyway, we repaired to the local Wetherspoons and enjoyed an ale until opening time rolled round and we returned to the restaurant for another fine meal. Very good quality but not quite what I would call Glasgow portions!

We headed to the venue at about half past seven (which would prove to be about two hours too early given that the band didn't appear until 10 o'clock) to find the Milkwood Jam a rather nice club. The room is quite small but the stage was reasonably sizable in comparison and it looked like it was well designed to cater for bands. And unlike at Sin City in December, the music being played still allowed pleasant conversation whilst drinks were enjoyed.

As noted, the wait was rather long and we could always tell that the band were not about to be starting given the presence of various members at the bar. Bob Richards was the last to make an appearance but I'm sure they all managed a further pint or two after that.

Now don't mistake that for any suggestion that they were the worse for wear when they took the stage. Far from it, as Bob's powerhouse drums led the band into an incredibly powerful version of Love Your Life. I had known that this was going to be the opening number but, even so, there was still a need to pinch myself that this number was being played after so many years.

This was followed by Something Is Happening which is a Phil Ryan song from the album The Welsh Connection. A bit harder hitting than the album version but with great harmonies. Sterling stuff.

It was clear that Phil's return has re-energised the band (although they were still mightily impressive as a four piece) and the more significant role that he takes in the overall sound both added to the overall quality of the sound and the individual contributions - everyone seemed to have raised their game.

With the absence of both Micky Jones and Deke Leonard the band seemed to have achieved the impossible and found themselves a comfortable area in which they can respect their heritage and also introduce their new material. A difficult trick to pull off and one which, to be honest, I would have doubted possible a couple of years back.

This was aptly demonstrated by the next number which was All Alone from the Diamonds And Coal album. Phil's presence meant the organ riff took its prominent position again, and the number featured a solo from the organ which was not present previously in either the live or studio versions of the song.

The rest of the set was a balance of the new (Man Of Misery, Freedom Fries), the prehistoric but still fresh sounding early numbers (Sudden Life, Shit On The World) and some well worn classics (C'Mon, Many Are Called...., Romain, Manillo, Bananas, Spunk Rock). Without exception, all were immaculate and considerably enhanced by Phil's presence.

This is not to downplay the contributions of the others. George played as well as I have seen him, and I think seems to find it more comfortable to play with the keyboards as part of the set up. Josh now looks very comfortable on stage and although he didn't solo as much as George, his contributions were notable. Bob seems to have upped the ante and produced even more of a powerhouse performance than I've come to expect. And Martin was........well, Martin. I don't think anything more needs to be said, does it. Thankfully, he was back to the boilersuit tonight. (And I thought his tribute to the late Ray Williams was one of the nicest points of the evening).

The only downside to the night was the fact that the clocks went forward one hour so we lost an hour's sleep that would have been much appreciated. After a large breakfast we headed back north on Sunday morning arriving back home at about six o'clock.

I do hope that this last month can be a springboard for the band from which they can come up with new material for a new album, as well as investigating some of the lesser played parts of their back catalogue for the live set. What price Keep On Crinting or Never Say Nups To Nepalese?

So when's the next trip? I can hardly wait!