As I'm still in a daze after the gig on Saturday night I've had difficulty formulating the words I need to convey this awesome event! I gave it my best shot. . . .
Having the fanzine's Richard Moorsom staying at our place was excuse enough to tag along with him for the pre-gig sound check at around 5pm. On walking in to the Robin, you just sensed that this gig was going to be something special. Ian and Roy Corkhill were already set up and toying with a few snippets off the play list, whilst Mokka was restringing the Martin acoustic - only to be told he'd done the dressing room guitar! Luckily for him the gig guitar strings were OK. It's reassuring to report that they seem to have as much fun practising the stuff as they do performing it for the masses. Ian and entourage were their usual down-to-earth selves and said 'hi', which dispersed any first sound check nerves.
Whilst experiencing trouble with the drum machine for one song, Ian remarked - 'Fucking acoustic gigs, I'm sick of 'em!' Rehearsed tracks included I Wish I Was In California, Little Princess, You Stone My Soul, Child Inside a Father (the 'José Feliciano version'), and a fantastic jamming session involving all three of them on guitar for a surprise Neil Young number. . . but more about that later. The session lasted about an hour and so then it was time to line our stomachs with some grub ready for the real thing.
We headed back into the scene of the action around 7.45pm, where the numbers had swelled to perhaps 400 or more disciples. It was a big venue and, by the end of the evening, it was clear that most McNabb Heads had managed to turn out for the occasion.
Ian arrived on stage on time, around 8pm, and did a fully acoustic first set. He promised we'd have fun - 'it being the last gig and all that'. There wasn't too much chat and the songs blended hastily into one another. It was over alarmingly quickly as 45 minutes or so just flew by! Situated directly under the microphone, I'd already acquired a rather stiff neck, as the stage was much higher than usual.
The play set was:
Carina Round then did her usual set and it was, as ever, outstanding. However, the poor girl had to contend with a lot of ignorant people who seemed to have forgotten just how much nerve it takes to get up on stage and entertain people. They just would not stop talking and, to her credit, she stopped half way through one song and had a go at someone who was singing someone else's song!
She played a blinding set, hitting notes that made you glad the beer was served in plastic cups, but then left the stage in a rush without waiting to receive the applause she deserved from those of us who appreciated her talent. I guess it's kind of inevitable that your facing an up hill task when, as support, you're already following the main man.
Anyway, back to the action on time again - blimey - twice in one night! Obviously the 11pm Black Country curfew is a strict one. Mind you, we were directly opposite the local police station. Ian was now wearing a very cool GUITAR T-shirt - but hey man, where were the boots? - as he was doing his usual tip-toe act sporting Nike trainers!
This time it was a mixture of acoustic and electric numbers - the Gibson taking a thrashing. We were also treated to more than the usual allowance of delicious cover version add-ins, too.
The house rocked to. . .
Child Inside A Father - electric session of course.
Still Got the Fever. As we all anticipated the now familiar Robbie Williams adaptation, Kevin the road manager, came on to hand Ian a copy of the 'World famous Q Magazine'. . ..
...'And look', said Ian, 'there's a review of Robbie Williams...let's cut straight to the stars shall we?. . .. Four, mmmm. . ...What's that that's just caught my eye. . .. This paragraph. . . Let's check it out shall we folks? - Let's go through the Robbie window''
And he read out the paragraph in question ' Lazy Days segs uncomfortably into Hey Jude - just the naa, naa, naa portion - not the dull verses. Win Some Lose Some is a very close cousin of Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) by the Icicle Works - former band of William's thunderous drummer. . ...'
'Still Got the Fever', resumed Ian, as he tossed the magazine over his shoulder.
And the fever continued with a run down of fellow sufferers - 'like Sir Matt Busby, Ian McCulloch, Ian Broudie and . . .. Cilla Black (!?). . . Dig it, dig it, dig it. . .The best things in life are free but you can keep them for the birds and bees . . . cos that's the kind of guy I am', he whispered, finally winding up this particular bout of the attack.
As the end drew near it was a kind of mixture of emotions as you could sense Ian intended to go out with a bang yet you just didn't want the tour to be over. Thank God for the web-site is all I can say, so we can all get a substitute fix every now and then!
And the good stuff went on. . .
There are just too many classics to chose from but, inevitably, Love Is A Wonderful Colour was picked out for an airing.
Potency was another excellent request to get heard above the melee of calls from the audience.
Look What She Did To My Mind finished off the second set nicely and Ian went off to prepare for the demand to get back out there.
He soon reappeared and told us to 'stop doing that' - as we were all enthusiastically chanting 'Stone My Soul' at break-neck speed. 'We know you're moved but you have to be more in time..' and with that he joined in with the rhythm on the guitar and led us all into Who Do You Love.
'It's Saturday night, folks - I wanna see some love in action. Everybody's gonna make babies tonight - except for us three', (Mokka and Roy the company in question), 'who are gonna kill about ten million!'
Walking on Gilded Splinters and I Want Candy followed and then we were all whisked on to the Magic Bus.
As he kept rhythm on the guitar, he thanked again those of us who'd been to see him on repeated occasions and said 'Stick with me - I'll try not to let you down'. He did a final round up 'thank yous' to those who had helped to make it all possible - with a special mention for his mom, Pat ('house lights up, please') - who had organised the whole tour with no help from himself. 'And thanks to Janine for being there', he added, in imitation Oscar award acceptance speech style.
Back to Who Do You Love and off they went again. . .
We all chanted 'Stone My Soul' again at a frantic rate, hoping to entice the guys back on stage and were rewarded with a quick appearance and the song itself.
As SMS came to it's conclusion, Ian tipped the wink to Roy and Mokka and there then followed the most wonderful climactic finale to this fantastic tour, as Mokka took up the Martin and joined Ian on the Gibson and Roy on fretless bass to thrash out Keep On Rocking In The Free World (which we'd had the privilege of seeing a sneak preview of at the sound check session earlier). IT WAS SUPERB and left the whole thing wrapped up to perfection (and gave us all high hopes for the next tour). As a parting gesture, Ian dropped the Gibson on the stage - Gulp!, Bloody heathen!
Ian and friends huddled round the mike and took their well deserved ovation, with the promise to see us later this year 'for some rocking'.
And that was it folks! From a purely personal point of view, I've had a great time on this tour and have met many new friends and like-minded souls. Many of us hung around to 'pay our last respects to the acoustic tour Ian', as it were, and he was as happy as ever to stay and chat to anyone who wanted to stay - until his mom called time and announced 'C'mon Ian, we're all ready to go!' ('Yes mom').
Signing off for now till the next tour.
Trina
trinaheath@yahoo.com
Received 3 March 1999. Posted 21 March. Minor editing 27 March.
This review Copyright © 1999, Trina Heath. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with permission. The right of Trina Heath to be identified
as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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