Saturday, March 18, 2000 Aberystwyth Arts Center, Wales

report by Sali

Set List
Season of the Witch / A House is not a Motel / Bummer in the Summer / Bluebird / if I were a Carpenter / Darkness Darkness / Money / Think / Blues (sorry to be so vague) / We’re Gonna Groove / Baby Please Don’t Go / As Long as I Have You - Encore - Morning Dew / No Regrets / GLORIA / Trouble in Mind / Waiting for my Man.

Oh it was great to meet a few friends and make some new ones - and there was plenty of time for that while we waited for the door to be opened.

There was a Gilbert and Sullivan production going on in the same hall - Patience - and boy did we need patience. Many of us were there when the doors were opened for that show, still there during their interval, still there when the show finished….. waiting. Rumour has it that Robert was involved in the sound check, maybe that explains it but it was a very long wait.

It was good to get in there at last and good to hear co-operation between bands again in the form of Fernhill and The Rag Foundation whose Traditional Weird Welsh (their words not mine - although I would have to agree with them) is well worth a second (or third) listen. It went something like: Siren Song (Tim Buckley), Starry Night for a Ramble, Girls from Glamorgan, Jim Cro (I enjoyed singing along to this one), Dole e Tefi (don’t ask me I’m a foreigner), Henry Martin. This was a wonderful combination of guitars, flute and electric violin with two magnificent voices - bring some CDs next time please - and I don’t know his name but the male vocalist has real stage presence.

At last, approximately 11pm, the familiar intorduction and the band strolled onto the stage with Robert following a few moments later. Boy were we pleased to see, and hear them. Immediately the wait was forgotten.

They all seemed relaxed and happy, in spite of some problems with monitors etc. Season of the Witch cast its spell and there we were - hooked. Motel was great - Carlyle on guitar and Alistair on drums were a powerful combination tonight. Bummer in the Summer we were assured was nothing to do with sheep and had a particularly neat finish. Money seems to have sorted itself out now, or is it just that I am becoming familiar with it? ‘Let’s get Cosmic’ was Robert’s way of introducing Darkness which was so good, it’s difficult to know who to watch as everyone is making an important contribution at some point. At the end of this number Robert introduced the band - Owen Glendower was Dick Turpin for a brief spell - and they each received a red rose from the front of the audience. Kevyn gallantly picked up Brian’s (Brion’s?) and put it behind his ear but unfortunatley it didn’t stay there long enough for anyone to get a photo. Audience participation for ‘testify’ was not up to its usual standard but it was excellent during Think! and Gloria. The encores were powerful and no-one seemed to realise how tired they were. Robert was reminiscing about appearing on TOTP and even mentioned wearing orange. I don’t think so!

The musicianship seemed better than ever to me tonight - even with a couple of technical gremlins. At one point Kevyn and Owen seemed as if the might get into a ‘battling banjoes’ situation. Owen varied between sitting back and playing it cool and really getting into the music. Brion was on form, during one track I noticed some particularly impressive finger work (Sorry Brion I can’t remember which number it was!) and the drumming was cracking. I got the feeling that Robert got one or two surprises, hence the comment ‘That’s Jazz’, and everyone seemed to be smiling.

At the end of the show Owen came to the front briefly and Robert stayed on stage signing autographs and receiving cards.

This was a long but happy night shared by a friendly audience and a great band. Thanks everyone, it was a lot of fun.

article courtesy Sali, who allowed the contents of her Calling to You website to be added to ManicNirvana.com.