Concert Review : Another Bruce in Glasgow

Last night saw Jack Bruce play a hometown gig in Glasgow in the company of Robin Trower and Gary Husband. Bruce had recorded a couple of albums with Trower in the early 1980's and recently resumed their partnership with the fine album Seven Moons.

Whilst it's easy to suggest that this is simply a rerun of the power trio setup, it does have to be said that Robin Trower does bring something different to the format. In comparison to his more famous compatriot in Bruce's past history there is a funkiness to his playing that Clapton can't match and which helped light up a number of the songs played.

The set was largely based around the Seven Moons album with a couple of tracks from the earlier collaboration. There are some things that can't be avoided and we also got Sunshine Of Your Love, We're Going Wrong, White Room and Politician - the last two as closing number of the main set and encore respectively - from the Cream back catalogue. The different qualities offered by Trower were more evident in these numbers. Although recognisably the classics that they are, there was a sufficient twist to make them more than worthwhile contributions and, as such, made them so much more than just trotting out the hits.

Jack was on strong voice all night, and you really do have to see him perform to appreciate the different approach he has to bass playing to so many of his colleagues. It makes you appreciate just why so many copyists of Cream and the power trio format just can't pull it off - he's a pretty unique player imposing his style on the music played. That's something that's not up for repetition in less skilled hands.

The concert was in the O2 Academy and whilst reasonably busy, there were still tickets at the door. I suspect that a man with Bruce's history really should be better loved by his hometown, but he seemed to be having a good time and seemed genuinely appreciative of the love showed to him from the audience.

I was particularly pleased as I had expected this to be an all-standing show, but the seats were set up in the front area and were available on an unallocated basis (perhaps that was a tactic to "fill out" the hall if ticket sales hadn't met expectations). Consequently I ended up in the third row.

Support was provided by Joanne Shaw Taylor. I had noticed her from an article in last month's Classic Rock - to be more precise, I noticed her picture as she is an extremely attractive woman!! However, she plays a mean blues guitar and has an excellent singing voice as well. Her CD was purchased and autographed and I'm able to confirm that she's just as attractive up close too!! Well worth catching if she's in your area.

Ian Hunter Gets Captured By The Game (with apologies to Smokey Robinson)

I've waxed enthusiastically elsewhere on this blog about the prospect of Mott The Hoople reuniting for some gigs. As the better informed amongst you will know, these gigs are happening with five shows at the Hammersmith Apollo in early October.

Despite my enthusiasm, I won't be attending the gigs as they are just happening in London. However, I feel sure that they will be filmed and those of us outside of London or with insufficiently deep pockets will get the chance to enjoy the event.

What is most interesting about this reunion is that it's happening alongside a remarkable resurgence in the profile of Ian Hunter who, at the age of 70, is on something of a hot streak with his writing and performing at a level of quality and consistency that you might argue he's never quite been able sustain previously in his long career. He also seems to look better now in his advancing years than he did when Mott were at their post-ATYD peak.

His latest album, Man Overboard, follows on relatively shortly after Shrunken Heads and both are excellent albums full of quality songs with pithy lyrics and backed by a superb band marshalled by Andy York.

It seems from recent interviews that Hunter took a long, hard look at his life following the death of his long term colleague Mick Ronson and realised that he'd been perhaps been selling his gift a little short. Since then his creative juices have been flowing more freely, and his touring workrate has been enviable for a man his age (and one who is not able to revel in the luxury available to the major bands which seems to take a lot of the drudgery out of the gigging experience).

Whilst both Rant and Shrunken Heads generated positive reviews, it seems to have been the release of the new album allied with the Mott reunion that has sparked a considerable increase in his profile in the music press. This is one of the more welcome features of 2009 and it a joy to me as a long term fan to see Ian get the credit that he so richly deserves.

And I do still hope that they find room for The Moon Upstairs, The Journey and Thunderbuck Ram in the Hammy Apollo shows!

What I Surrounded Myself With On Holiday

I'm just back from a relaxing week in Ireland - to be more precise in Cushendall on the Antrim Coast. As much of a family visit (my wife's mother and brother live over there) as a holiday we had rented a rather lovely holiday flat for the week as the picure below shows. The weather was a little iffy but this did not cause too much concern on my part, not least as in my advancing years my need for activity on holiday diminishes and the availability of books to read and a ready supply of liquid sustenance (and that's usually coffee!) is good enough for me.


There was one considerable additional attraction to our home for the week and that was the presence of a 5.1 Surround Sound system. Much as I love movies I've not yet indulged in a home surround system and have been a little sceptical of the benefits of this to music. For the latter, I remain wedded to the view that I'm (at least in theory) listening to a performance by a band where I'm in the audience and they are on stage in front of me, and not surrounding me. In other words, my preference seems to sound very much like stereo

Conclusions? Mixed, I think.

The live concert DVD's I took along with me (all Bruce Springsteen as it happens) did not much more than to give an expanded version of the Stereo soundstage. The back channels were not much more than the sound of the audience and it did give some impression of sitting in a concert hall right down to, rather bizarrely in my opinion, the echo of the drums coming off the back wall! As such, much of the music was drenched in a greater amount of echo than is the case for the stereo mix.

I also took Brian Wilson's DVD's of SMiLE and That Lucky Old Sun. Although live performances (and I remain of the view that there has been an element of post-performace sweetening) these were set out with a view to recording and so are not the same as a live concert as such. My first disappointment was in being reminded that my version of SMiLE was a Region 1 disc so it would not play. That Lucky Old Sun was able to play and was thoroughly enjoyable but I'm not sure how much of a benefit there was to my ears - it certainly put you in the middle of the stage but that does seem a false place to be when listening to music.

I had also taken the 40th anniversary DVD of Pet Sounds and this was most interesting as the 5.1 mix allowed a better seperation of the instruments from the voices. If anything would encourage me to invest in surround sound this would have been the best advocate amongst the things I took along.

I did have another disappointment when listening to the DVD of the The Beatles' Love album - this plays as a continuous edit but there were gaps between the tracks which broke the magic of this album and I must confess that I didn't listen to it fully.

At this point in time, I think home surround sound is grand for movies (and probably those of a particular kind with lots of effects) but I think the jury remains out for music.