GRIMsby

Another show and another time I was able to squeeze in at the front - not bad having been helping out on the merchandise stall until just before the band took the stage (Thanks to all of you who popped by and said hi).

The setlist was the same as at Dublin, so I won't go into full details here, but as soon as the band hit the opening notes of Woman From Tokyo, it was obvious they were firing on all cylinders and going at things with even greater enthusiasm than they had on other recent tours. The second thing I noticed was that finally they seem to have been able to get Jon properly represented in the mix, and he was playing a blinder of a show.

On the whole, it's quite a hard set - almost as though the band are going "Hey, we can still do this, and if you (the UK music industry) don't like it, fuck off."

Highlights have to be Child In Time and The Aviator. In the former, Ian sang beautifully, and the latter has been re-arranged from the album version - it now features Rog and Steve singing harmonies during the chorus, and a couple of times they are only backed by Paicey keeping the beat. I loved it.

Other than Paicey, they no longer seem to be taking individual solos, instead opening up several songs with long jams.

The new song, Up The Wall is a Purple track - that's the best way of describing it. Good riff, solo breaks, quiet moments... You get the idea. However, it seems a little less immediate than either Long Time Gone or The Well Dressed Guitar.

Overall, a very enjoyable, very solid performance from the band in front of an enthusiastic, if sometimes quiet crowd - I guess I'm just spoilt by the engery the Swedes, Danes, Germans and Italians seem to generate at their shows! [We do like it loud! :-) Rasmus]

Oh, I've been told that other songs were rehearsed, so expect some changes over the course of the tour.

Doug MacBeath

Back to reviews