Monmouth Saturday review

Great review from Edward Shirley via Madelina:

Even though Friday was superb, Saturday was much better and I can see why the band needed to have warm up. The whole lot just seemed to gel better and it all looked more natural. It was louder too but maybe that was because I was four rows nearer to the stage. Much better audience reaction on Saturday too, with all standing for the last few numbers and the space in front of the stage packed with standing people too. I'd be interested to hear what other members who went to both nights feel.

A few points which have been raised but I don't think have been answered yet:

Merchandise there was none which surprised me. I'd taken out too much cash to ensure I got a tour t-shirt and a then-and-now brochure but all there was was an assortment of CDs and Ian's 'Diary'. Looking at posts about lack of recording plans and seeing lack of merchandise I wonder if maybe even the powers that be were doubtful about whether or not this would really happen!

No glam, no platform boots, no surprise there. The band were all smart but casual and on Friday Overend appeared to have a noose around his neck! I know nothing about equipment but Overend had a pink base with the letters OW on and the swallow made an appearance towards the end on both nights but I don't think it was played. The Maltese cross was played for maybe one number, I think Angeline. Ian said he'd been given it for a birthday present on his recent, well publicised birthday. I think it had been owned for a while by somebody who posts here. Could you enlighten us on that? The Hammond is a legendry part of MTH history and it wouldn't have been the same without it. For I Wish I Wish I Was Your Mother, the band sat in a line across the front of the stage on stools. As they were preparing Verden had some other small but ancient piece of kit and Ian commented that Verden plays things that are fifty years old then he's surprised when they don't work! The wag next to me said it sounded just like his wife!

I understood the young male backing singer was Jim Ralphs, youngest son of Mick rather than Stan's grandson. The backing singers came on around the time of GAORR and stayed till nearly the end, leaving quietly during the last few bars of Saturday Gig to leave just the five band members on the stage alone. The end of the show was surreal, with the instrumental backing of Saturday Gig fading to leave the band singing 'Goodbye' accapella then taking of their instruments and walking quietly away.

For the second night the equipment had been rearranged slightly with Ian's keyboard moved in from the edge to sit almost behind Mick's mike. Some of Verden's wooden cabinet things had been rearranged too.

No Joe, nobody else, just James Maestro working hard as Ian's toady. Anybody know who all the other roadies were? They seemed to be into it, rather than just working!

Mick sang 'Ready For Love' For me this didn't work, his vocal range isn't what it was and he had to sing the whole melody differently to be sure he could do it. When Ian and Overend did the chorus it sounded rather like 'this is how it's done!'. Mick had to sing something though and this was as good a choice as any, so I'm glad it was there. We didn't get the whole of 'After Lights' but I was glad to see it included.

Overend sang, played lead and took centre stage for Born Late. Ian played base. He very obviously sang Listen Heller rather than feller which I believe is what he wrote originally but was changed for fear of litigation. Must listen and see if he does that on other live recordings. I have always underestimated the contribution that Overend's backing vocals make to the MTH sound. Somebody commented about Overend being in the shade, I can tell you he wasn't. For me he was the biggest surprise of the show. Beforehand I'd got the feeling he was reluctant but he spent the whole of both nights looking like a child who'd just found a long lost toy. All his classic poses were there and he made every effort to interact with the audience and still managed to pick out some 'individual' looking women. Far from being laid back he was nearly off the front of the stage a few times. I don't know why the Youtube clips look like that.

The set list was the same order both nights with The Original Mixed Up Kid slotted into the seated bit before I Wish I Was Your Mother and Like A Rolling Stone before The Journey. I got the feeling that LARS may have been an impromptu thing that Ian started on the piano as somebody wasn't ready and everybody gradually joined in. I too was surprised at Hymn For The Dudes as the opener and would prefer them to start with a bang!