OK, so I am so behind with this blog that it seems impossible that I will ever catch up. Oh well, I guess I have to start somewhere, and what better place to start than the Stereophonics?
To be fair, I had said previously that I wouldn't go and see the 'Phonics live again, so it may seem strange to be writing about 2 gigs on the bounce. However, I'm a sucker for a one off concert and they were playing two of them. In celebration of them re-releasing their first two albums, they were playing both of them in full over 2 nights, including B sides. And I had a pre-sale link. No brainer really.
Anyway, Word Gets Around was first on the bill and my favourite 'Phonics album. Having seats is always wise for the Stereophonics as there tends to be a lot of beer and plastic cups flying around. It was obvious that much of the crowd had been queuing all afternoon so it was nice to turn up late and be able to sit down. I have to say that the band were much better than I expected. They are always so supremely professional and can produce the sound from their records in a way that many live bands can't. What is often lacking from my perspective is the little moments that make the gig magic - if it just sounds like the album I can sit in the comfort of my own home and listen to my cd player. This time front man Kelly Jones exceeded himself and talked a lot about the making of the recrod, where the songs came from, and started off with a tribute to Stuart Cable, the drummer from the original band line up who sadly died earlier this year. The fans approved and it set up the evening as pretty special and unique.
Highlights for me were the anthems A Thousand Trees and Tramp's Vest, and just hearing some of the more obscure tracks really brought home the raw energy that the band must have had at the beginning. The final encore included tracks from other albums and the crowd went mad.
I knew the second night would struggle to live up to the first - apart from anything else, Word Gets Around is my favourite album for all that there are some standout tracks on Performace. The energy wasn't quite as high as for the first night - maybe because a lot of the fans had been there for both and were as tired as I was - and there was certainly less chat from Kelly. The night didn't really get going from my perspective until they covered Sunny Afternoon by the Kinks. All in all it was a great show but was never going to be as special as the first night.
I should mention that support on both nights was provided by Matthew P, who had some nice songs (I particularly liked Feet on the Ground) and a fantastic animated sign - I would reccomend that you check out his Myspace .
So there we go. I can definitely say that I have had my Stereophonics live fix now. Well, for now anyway...
The special editions of 'Word Gets Around' and 'Performance and Cocktails are available now from all good music retailers
