Stuck in a traffic jam for two and a half hours on the M62 heading back home after 3 days on the road trying to earn an honest shilling. It's pissing down and I'm knackered! The decision's easy--find a hotel and finish the final 200 miles in the morning. Sitting in my room bored shitless I turn my mind back to more pleasant memories like seeing the big fella in Norwich the week before. Camaraderie is pulled out of the briefcase and "The Emotional Party" postcard is studied to see if Ian happens to be playing a travelodge in my neck of the woods that night.....no but he was playing in York, some 30 minutes away.
A quick call to a mate in the area and the arrangements were made. We arrived at Fibbers at about 8:30 expecting to have missed the first half hour but were told they didn't know when the show was going to start. Time for a couple of pints then and a survey of the venue. Fibbers is a pub which to my mind is ideally suited for an intimate performance--big bar, small stage and ample space for about 100 people to stand and listen to the music.
Three pints later, Ian entered stage left. The crowd was pretty small, about 80 in all, mainly standing at the bar or round the edges of the pub. A few of us were brash enough to 'rush' up to the front of the stage to get the optimum viewing positions. "Sex with Someone You Love" opened the show brilliantly, and then Ian proceeded to play every single track from the new album. I could go through the order but if you've got a copy of the album or the track listing...that's how he performed them, ending up with "Girls are Birds." "Little Princess" was again the dog's bollocks, and "Girls are Birds" had that little bit of magic about it. An excellent first half in which the crowd remained mainly in the positions they had taken up at the start of the show.
Different story in the second half. The small band of us who were at the front of the stage went for a quick pint only to find that the rest of the audience decided that was the place to be in the second half! Anyway, it made for better atmosphere for what was about to happen. Ian came back on stage with all six strings buzzing....the "Greatest Hits" performance had started! The place was bouncing. "Be Prepared to Dream," followed by "Fire Inside My Soul" led into "Hollow Horse" and "Love is a Wonderful Colour." "Evangeline" (including "I want Candy") then "Understanding Jane" all had the crowd dancing and singing to Ian's every strum of the guitar. It was brilliant...but then again I'm biased. All too soon it was all over and the crowd were baying for an encore. Ian duly obliged, along with Mokka and Roy Corkill for a rendition of "Child Inside a Father." I must admit that his has never been one of my favourite tracks but to hear it live for the first time gave it new meaning and feeling for me, and I listen to it now in a completely different light. Exit stage left again only to be called back for a second encore which Ian returned to the solo performance. If you read my review of the Norwich gig then you will know how impressed I was with the recent version of "Birds Fly". I couldn't let the good people of York miss out on the opportunity to hear such a wonderful version. "Birds Fly" was played in all its glory and the crowd played their part in providing the backing vocals Ian asked for. Final song of the evening was a cover version of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" including all the "daaaaay-oh" bits at the start.
And that was it folks, another great evenings entertainment from Ian McNabb. The friend that I took to the show had never heard of Ian before that night, but was so impressed that he went out and bought The Emotional Party and The Best of The Icicle Works the very next day. I was privileged enough to have a few words with Ian after the show and was chuffed to bits when he told me that he had read my review of the Norwich gig on the web pages. So now that I know the he reads these things I'd just like to say thanks for the entertainment and long may it continue. Now where is Ian playing next week......and what customers can I arrange to visit in that area........
14 November 1998.
This review Copyright © 1998, James Cruickshanks. All
rights reserved. Reproduced with permission.
The right of James Cruickshanks 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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