Tuesday gig?

Have at it, all. Video of "The Saturday Gigs" from ofitato via YouTube.

Saturday video: The Moon Upstairs

An early sound glitch, but still OK. Song was the best in the set IMO.

"I swear to you, before we're through you're gonna feel our every blow. We ain't bleeding you, we're feeding you, but you're too f***ing slow."

Thursday's show

MOTT THE HOOPLE SETLIST

Jupiter
Hymn for the Dudes
Rock N Roll Queen
Sweet Jane
One of the Boys
Sucker
The Moon Upstairs





Acoustic portion
The Original Mixed Up Kid
I Wish I Was Your Mother

Ready for Love
Born Late '58
Ballad of Mott the Hoople
Sweet Angeline
Walkin with a Mountain/Jumpin Jack Flash
Like a Rolling Stone
The Journey
Golden Age of Rock N Roll
Honaloochie Boogie
All the Way from Memphis

Encore I (with Buffin)
Roll Away the Stone
All the Young Dudes
Keep a Knockin

Encore II
The Saturday Gigs

They played for a little over two hours. Buffin came out only for the three songs on the first encore. They had a second drum kit set up for him. He needed assistance. It was moving to see Martin Chambers help Buffin onto the drum chair and off, and lead applause for him. Buffin did bang away on his kit and kept a rhythm, but someone was crouched behind him in case of accident. It still was good to see him. Wonder if he'll come out tonight?

They had a chorus line of five backing vocalists on some songs. They were Ian's kids Jesse and Tracey, Mick Ralphs' son (is it Stan?), Stan Tippins with cowboy hat, and a woman I did not know. A sixth choruser joined them on ATYD -- Joe Elliott. He also came to the front and sang a verse (yeah, I know -- Joe Elliott got stage time and Morgan and Ariel didn't). Joe wore a T-shirt with the name of MMA fighter Randy Couture.

Mick had a goldish, spotted jacket, which he soon took off and went with a white shirt and black pants, Ian the same topped by a black jacket. Verden had a maroon T-shirt. He's rail-thin. Pete had on a multi-colored sweater that made him look like he was off to ski the Alps after these shows, and with all the money they're making, he could. The only concession to glam of anyone was Pete wearing white shoes.

The front line, Mick, Ian and Pete, looked really relaxed and into it. They clearly were enjoying it. Mick and Pete came to the edge of the stage several times. Pete came all the way across the stage once. I did not really see Verden interacting with the others, but I was on the other side of the stage. They lined up Mick left, Ian center, then Pete and Verden with Martin in back. Ian had keys all the way to the left and played them on maybe four songs.




The band smoked on the rockers, I mean smoked. The Moon Upstairs was off-the-hook good and a highlight for me as I'd never heard it live before. If you'd closed your eyes you'd never guess these were performers aged 65 and up. Angeline and Memphis were also highlights for me, though I hear them all the time with Ian's band. Mick's solo on Honaloochie Boogie was amazing -- made the song a lot different from the novelty song Ian has made it out to be in recent years. It was great.

They came forward on stools for a two-song acoustic set with Martin on bongos.

Finish of The Saturday Gigs saw Mick, Ian, Pete and Verden come to the front and lead the fans in singing "Goodbye, goodbye!" a capella, and they walked off with this as the backdrop. They teased another song but this was it.

Everyone I talked to was really satisfied, and overall so was I. You can go on about setlists, but I'd really rather hear "No Wheels to Ride" than "Sweet Jane," NWTR being a group composition that would bolster the representation of the earlier albums.



Oh I got a drumstick -- off the floor after it had struck my seatmate Platform Boots in the face. Yes, I offered it to him -- twice! But he was kind enough to let me bring it back to the U.S. Thanks Toni! Martin had broken it at the end of The Moon Upstairs and I guess heaved it. Martin should be an Olympic javelin-tosser.

Day 11: Beyond Hammersmith

"Eight track machine playing Half Moon Bay ... " -- Drivin' Sister (1973)

The band, Ian Hunter at least, has been noncommittal about any MTH activity after the London dates.

There has been a steady drone from U.S. fans begging for their cities to be considered, including an outrageous suggestion on Hunter's fan site that five nights at New York's Madison Square Garden be scheduled.

Buddy -- get a clue.

Personally, I'd like for Hammersmith to be the end of it. An exception for me might be a two- or three-night engagement at a mid-sized New York venue, such as the Nokia Theatre in Times Square, capacity 2,100. But that's it. After that, any luster would be gone.

There are barriers toward continuing beyond London.

For one, they need a drummer. It's established now that Buffin isn't up to it. Martin Chambers, maybe, but he does have another band that probably gets first dibs on his time.

For another, I don't want to see Hunter's solo career shut down for this.

I wondered how the buildup for MTH would affect Hunter's July release, Man Overboard, and in the end the results were mixed. Man Overboard got more press attention than any Hunter album in decades, and almost all the reviews mentioned the MTH reunion and the fact that Ian turned 70 this year. Those were the hooks. So that was good. But on the downside, there was no IH tour to promote Man Overboard, just a couple of New York shows, one in the rain and the other at a tiny venue. I'm not in the loop, but New West, IH's new record company, can't be pleased.

My assessment: On balance, the MTH reunion hurt Man Overboard by diverting the attention of fans and Ian himself.

And I certainly don't want to see MTH, unable to draw on a headline tour, coming 'round as a support band, playing 45-minute sets before fans who don't know who they are. That would be too sad to bear.

Anyway, I hope once Hammersmith is done we get back to Rant band concerts for as long as IH chooses to perform.

This is not to minimize the MTH shows. They will be golden moments and a week of wonderful memories. But to aim for any degree of permanence, I think, would be a move for the worse.

Best-case scenario is the shows go down a storm and attract enough attention for MTH to get the berth in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame they've deserved all along. And as fans we get the experience of a lifetime. Then we move on.

Day 12: Watt of Whats?

"He didn't see me coming but he surely saw me running, faster than the U.S. mail." -- Born Late '58 (1974)

Or maybe it should be "What of Watts?"

With the Buffin issue sorted out this week, the biggest remaining mystery of the MTH reunion is the status of bass player Pete Overend Watts, who has had nothing to say publicly. He was the only band member who didn't appear at the MOJO awards, and the only one not interviewed for the (London) Guardian's recent piece.

I'm not speculating Watts won't play. It's clear to me he really is involved, despite his elusiveness. But fans must be wondering what the guy even looks like, as all the others have been seen in recent weeks. Here's a person last widely seen standing on foot-high platforms with silver car paint coloring his hair. Whatever Watts 2009 looks like, it will be a shock. I wish I could be at Monmouth to see.

I always thought Watts was second only to Ian Hunter as the visual symbol of MTH. He adopted the glam look -- "tarted up," as Hunter says -- more easily than any of them. I also thought he was the one most screwed over by the 1974 split, as he had apparently turned down a spot in Bad Company out of loyalty to MTH only to be left with nothing. And remember, it was Watts who made the overture to David Bowie that led to "All the Young Dudes" and the very survival of MTH beyond Brain Capers.

His post-MTH endeavors are generally known. He ran an antique shop where his MTH stage gear was on display. He became an endurance walker, so we shouldn't worry about his stamina or leg strength for these shows. Now Watts returns to us with his own theme song, courtesy of the U.S. band Mambo Sons. As a songwriter we know so well once wrote, "Overend's just a rock 'n' roll star."

So here's looking forward to our reunion with Lord Watts, and here's hoping there's a place for "Born Late '58" on the Hammersmith set. It will be good to see him, and hear him.

Day 17: Countdown No. 1, Mott (1973)

"''Cos if you think you are a star, for so long they'll come from near and far. But you'll forget just who you are. You ain't the Nazz. You're just a buzz. Some kinda temporary ... " -- Hymn for the Dudes (1973)

This one finishes on top, deservedly so.

Debate all you want about MTH glam or not glam, pre- or post-Bowie, Verden in or out, Ralphs or Bender. Once all's said, this was one of the top albums of the greatest era in rock history.

Give it a spin to quench any emotion.

Angry? Shout along to "Violence."

Lonesome? Shed a tear to "I Wish I Was Your Mother." Defiant? Sing along to "Hymn for the Dudes," with a proviso -- the version on the three-disk anthology is superior to the Mott version.

Wistful? The guitar part alone should get you on "Ballad of MTH." And the full song is a heavyweight.

Happy? "Memphis" and "Honaloochie Boogie" are two of the most infectious songs ever recorded.

This was the album, and "Memphis" the track, that in 1973 pulled me away from AM radio and into a lifetime of appreciation of Mott the Hoople.

I know circumstances might push them into a supporting spot, but I hope to hear a lot of these songs at Hammersmith.

SONG RATINGS (OUT OF 5)

All the Way From Memphis (5)
Whizz Kidd (4)
Hymn for the Dudes (5)
Honaloochie Boogie (5)
Violence (3.5)
Drivin Sister (3.5)
Ballad of Mott the Hoople (5)
I'm a Cadillac/El Camino Dolo Rosa (2.5)
I Wish I Was Your Mother (5)

Day 18: Countdown No. 2, The Hoople (1974)

"Hear me swear, hear every word. I ain't just a number, I wanna be heard." -- Crash Street Kidds (1974)

I always considered this possibly the most theatric album of the early 1970s. It has such a showy feel to it, from the MC's introduction of the first track, through the operatic "Marionette" and the barroom sounds at the opening of "Pearl N Roy," and ending with the chat sequence and soaring guitars on "Roll Away the Stone."

I think it is underappreciated by fans who missed the old, raw MTH and also by fans who missed Mick Ralphs.

I understand the shortcomings. It's dominated by Ian Hunter's songwriting, with the only exception being the rush-job "Born Late '58" (which I love regardless). There is little guitar presence, with keyboards dominating. It's poppy. The one track that hearkens back to vintage MTH, "Crash Street Kidds," is somehow wimpy, with an out-of-place musical interlude at its core and poor effects on the machine gun fusillade that ends the track.

But it has so many guilty pleasures. "Pearl N Roy" is such a fun song, with great political lyrics. "Alice" is a neglected gem, one I know I'll never hear live because there's no way Ian Hunter will remember all the words. "Through the Looking Glass" -- my interpretation of it -- is inspirational, with its message to not fear looking at oneself. I was outraged when the profanity-laced out-take of this song was included in the MTH retrospective collection of the 1990s. Why spoil a beautiful track? It irritated the band as well.

And this is before you consider the masterpieces -- "Golden Age," "Marionette" and "Roll Away the Stone."

It's an unloved stepchild among many fans, but this is the only MTH alnum on which I love every track.

SONG RATINGS (OUT OF 5)

The Golden Age of Rock N Roll (5)
Marionette (5)
Alice (4.5)
Crash Street Kidds (3.5)
Born Late '58 (4)
Trudi's Song (3)
Pearl N Roy (England) (5)
Through the Looking Glass (4)
Roll Away the Stone (5)

Day 19: Countdown No. 3, Brain Capers (1971)

"I would cry a million smiles for my Indian City queen." -- Sweet Angeline (1971)

What a sloppy, funny, angry, honest record. What a great album.

My favorites are two of the rawest pieces of music I've ever heard -- "Sweet Angeline" and "The Moon Upstairs."

It's a highlight for me whenever "Angeline" makes an Ian Hunter setlist these days. I enjoy it because, as performed by the Rant band, it's a tight, precise rocker. But not in 1971. The song is chaotic and sounds like it could fall apart at any moment. I swear I hear Ian chuckle while singing -- twice. It's like improv -- and that's borne out by the fact that, even now, whenever the song is performed the lyrics change. I never tire of hearing it.

"The Moon Upstairs," with its bitter lyrics and pulsating guitars, is the best rocker of MTH's Island Records era. If it's played where I think it should be at Hammersmith next month -- as the set closer -- it will blow the roof off the building. The song's climactic lyrics, of course, reflect the anger of Hunter and MTH toward their record company. Thematically, it's not much different from "Marionette," a flashy mini-opera of three years later. But in this era, the sentiments were expressed brutally -- "We ain't bleeding you, we're feeding you, but you're too fucking slow." And who hasn't wanted to explode on an employer that way?

"How Long" is another out-of-control rocker, dubbed, for some reason, "Death May Be Your Santa Claus." Of the three pedestrian songs that fill out the record, the cover of the Youngbloods' "Darkness, Darkness" is the best.

What to make of the disk-ending "Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception?" Same as its twin, "Wrath & Roll" from the first album. Nothing.

SONG RATINGS (OUT OF 5)

Death May Be Your Santa Claus (3.5)
Your Own Back Yard (2.5)
Darkness, Darkness (3)
The Journey (3.5)
Sweet Angeline (5)
Second Love (2.5)
The Moon Upstairs (5)
The Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception (1)

Day 20: Countdown No. 4, All the Young Dudes (1972)

"Ride on -- until you fail." -- Sea Diver (1971)

Obviously this was the watershed album for Mott the Hoople. But down which side does the water flow?

Compare this record with Brain Capers. Do you prefer the slicker production of ATYD, or the raw power of its predecessor? It's one of the core questions of Mott the Hoople fandom.

For today, I'm going with Brain Capers. Ask me again tomorrow, and it could be different. The key is that ATYD wasn't a quantum leap ahead in terms of song quality, just in image and production values.

None of that, obviously, diminishes ATYD.

The cover of "Sweet Jane" is excellent, even though Ian Hunter supposedly didn't like the song, or at least didn't like Lou Reed. IH must hold the song in some regard, as it's still sometimes on his setlist.

The hidden gem on the album is "Jerkin' Crocus." At one point it was in such high esteem that it opened MTH shows; nowadays even MTH hardcores rarely mention it. I think it's the best rocker on the album, better than the other contenders, "Sucker," "Momma's Little Jewel" and "One of the Boys."

I thought the chorus of "Sea Diver" was touching when I first heard it, and a generation later I feel the same. It continued a tradition of introspective IH songs that's maintained even today.

Two downers. The first is "Soft Ground." It's painful to listen to, and it might be the worst track on any of the seven MTH albums. This is why the group was so reluctant to record Verden Allen's songs. And, while "Ready for Love" is a fine song, you can't help thinking how much better it sounded three years later with Paul Rodgers doing the singing. And both those tracks are illustrative of why MTH Mark I broke up.

That brings us to the title track. Its importance and significance have been well-documented, and I won't belabor the point. But I must say this. It has always been an Achilles heel of MTH that their most well-known track was written by someone else. No denying that. But if you listen to this cut and to the track on 1974's David Live, which I believe was David Bowie's first recording of the song he wrote, the superiority of the MTH version is obvious. Mick Ralphs' intro and Hunter's chorus rap were vital to the song's appeal.

This record was a veer toward pop music. It kept MTH alive, so for that we're grateful. But the visceral appeal of Brain Capers was put firmly in the past, and that was something of a loss.

SONG RATINGS (OUT OF 5)

Sweet Jane (4)
Momma's Little Jewel (4)
All the Young Dudes (5)
Sucker (3.5)
Jerkin Crocus (4.5)
One of the Boys (4)
Soft Ground (0.5)
Ready for Love/After Lights (2)
Sea Diver (3)

Day 22: Countdown No. 5, Mad Shadows (1970)

"Anything's better than the life I've known, I can't face anything that low." -- Walkin with a Mountain (1970)

This one should have been Sticky Fingers. I assume you've heard that story.

Mad Shadows is a better title anyway for the lyrical content. And the cover, which looks like a Rorshack test, is perfect because some of the lyrics make you want to call a psychiatrist.

I think it's great. Of the early era MTH albums, which I basically bought in a pack, this one has grown on me the most.

Mick Ralphs' "Thunderbuck Ram" is an awesome opener, from its first chords to its abrupt denouement. I think it would even be a great opener for the reunion shows. It's the best song Mick wrote for Mott. I love the way "No Wheels to Ride" builds from a ballad into something a lot more. Of course I love "Walkin With a Mountain," maybe because I know what it became as a concert staple for Ariel Bender in later MTH days.

The lyrics here are as dark and angry as anything on Brain Capers. The difference is that Brain Capers suggested a more physical expression of violence. This one is more psychotic. Case in point: Ian Hunter's "When My Mind's Gone."

It held together well as a selection of songs and still holds up today, but there was a ceiling on how far they could go with it. And it wasn't far, as the successor, Wildlife, was much lighter.

SONG RATINGS (OUT OF FIVE)

Thunderbuck Ram (4.5)
No Wheels to Ride (4)
You Are One of Us (3)
Walkin With a Mountain (4.5)
I Can Feel (3)
Threads of Iron (2.5)
When My Mind's Gone (3)

Day 23: Countdown No. 6, Mott the Hoople (1969)

"You can't live in Texas unless you've got a lot of soul." -- At the Crossroads (1969)

Mott the Hoople gives a unique demonstration in its first, eponymous album: How to cover Bob Dylan without covering Bob Dylan.

There are no Dylan covers here, not even "Blowing in the Wind," the coda of which was performed in many early MTH concerts. But that's not to say that song after song don't sound like Bob. They do.

"Backsliding Fearlessly" does. "Laugh at Me" makes a Sonny Bono cover sound as if it came from the Dylan catalogue. And "At the Crossroads" covers Doug Sahm, himself a Dylan mentor.

MTH strays from Dylan on "Rock N Roll Queen," channeling the Rolling Stones instead. (OK, hands. Who thinks it sounds like "Bitch?")

The point is that MTH at its genesis wore its influences and inspirations on its sleeves. For the most part, it worked here. The style piques your interest.

They carried it too far by kicking off the disk with a version of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me." I don't understand the point of that. Why make your first song an instrumental cover of a recent song by a band for whom you frequently open? I think the other instrumental, the MTH-composed "Rabbit Foot and Toby Time," is superior.

The Kinks cover gives the feeling that this was a hastily put together effort, without enough MTH-written songs nor any nod to what worked in their live performances. There's one MTH classic, "R&RQ," and some glimpses of what the band and Ian Hunter will offer in the future.

Other than that, I wouldn't consider it a strong debut.

SONG RATINGS (OUT OF FIVE)

You Really Got Me (1.5)
At the Crossroads (2.5)
Laugh at Me (3.5)
Backsliding Fearlessly (2.5)
Rock N Roll Queen (4)
Rabbit Foot and Toby Time (2.5)
Half Moon Bay (2)
Wrath & Roll (1)

Day 24: Countdown No. 7, Wildlife (1971)

"Maybe I'm just a loser. Maybe it's because my boots ain't as clean as they could be." -- Home is Where I Want to Be (1971)

I didn't experience MTH's albums sequentially. I think it's important you know that.

I started with Mott, went to The Hoople, eventually went back to ATYD then picked off the first four many years later.

So my initial reaction to Wildlife was to be struck by how different it sounded from what the band's ultimate product would be -- not what it had been.

Because of that I think I judge it less harshly than others do. Knowing that such fantastic output lay ahead, I could regard this one as a harmless curiosity.

But had I been a fan of Mad Shadows upon its release, and was breathlessly awaiting its sequel back in 1971, I would have been stunned and disappointed by this one. Having shown one identity on Shadows, the band yanked that away with Wildlife and decided, apparently, that it was Poco. And I like Poco. That's the problem. MTH was just a weak imitation here.

The songs are listenable. I don't mind giving it an occasional spin. The songwriting is, in fact, better than on the album that I'll be rating No. 6, but the difference is, that one has an essential, core MTH song and this one does not.

Four Mick Ralphs C&W songs combined with three of Ian Hunter's slower songs make this a leisurely album compared with its two breakneck predecessors. "Waterlow" is here, and it's brilliant, but the live versions on solo IH disks are better. They added "Keep A Knockin," almost certainly to give the disk some rock feel. It's great, but would have been more in place on an early MTH live album. The other Wildlife cover, "Lay Down," I don't know why they chose to record it. Melanie's version had recently been on the charts. I didn't like it, either.

I'm sure there were some confused British teenagers when this came out.

(I can say, though, this was the first MTH album I ever saw. I remember a high school classmate pointing out the record as an example of a great band -- probably on the strength of Mad Shadows. I saw the cover and figured they were in Central Park.)

SONG RATINGS (OUT OF FIVE)

Whiskey Women (2.5)
Angel of Eighth Avenue (3)
Wrong Side of the River (2)
Waterlow (3.5)
Lay Down (1.5)
It Must Be Love (3)
The Original Mixed-Up Kid (3)
Home is Where I Want to Be (3)
Keep A Knockin' (3.5)