Wednesday, May 31, 2000 Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon

Report by Sali

Support: Julie Murphy plus guitarist

Set List: No Regrets / Evil Woman / Waiting For My Man / Bummer in the Summer / North Country Girl / If I Were a Carpenter / Darkness, Darkness / Early in the morning / Dimples.
Encore: Bluebird / As Long as I Have You / Trouble in Mind.

Sorry I didn’t catch the name of this guitarist who could make his guitar sound like a harp- he also played mandola. Julie sings with Fernhill and has previously supported Priory of Brion with half of the Rag Foundation. She has a beautiful voice-tender, soulful, powerful. She sang in both English and Welsh, sometimes within a single song. It is clear that she truly cares when she sings, whether the song is about farmers, miners, lovers or highwaywomen. She has a way of bringing an ancient folk song right up to date and even when I don’t understand the words I love her voice. Visit her website. Buy her CYs. Listen!

Shirt watch: Robert in black shimmering green, Carlisle beige, short sleeved, Alistair- eternal flame, Eric-black(!), Owain black T shirt with a blue dragon motif.
Shoe watch: Robert - black pull on suede, Carlisle-brown leather boots, Others - is there a uniform creeping in here? black suede pull-ons of the type seen in surfin’ shops.

Moroccan alarm clock-call to the faithful. POB begin with ‘No Regrets’. Robert’s voice is gravelly mellow at first, increasing in power until we get “Yeah, yeah, yeah’ at full throttle. Owain gives us some nice piano touches in this one before leading us into ‘Evil Woman’ then sweeps up and down the keyboard. The the vocals are full of feeling, keyboards and guitar interplay-swirling, manic, tight, “Come on, come on, come on” to a psychedelic ending. Robert is talking about Brecon; “this beautiful place-not far from home” and comparing it to another place: “dirty, lewd, promiscuous …..beautiful” as an introduction to ‘Waitng For My man.’ Owain’s fingers go crazy and Carlisle is having a great time singing along. Owain and Carlisle are totally together this evening. No more so than in ‘Bummer in the Summer’ led by Alistair Crowley driving on drums. Robert sits down for a number which he says he sang as a duet with Julie Murphy in the dressing room - ‘North Country Girl’ begins with a perfect bass and drum partnership, Carlisle darting around the fretboard and Robert sings us up to a transcendent………….. silence, then some respectful clapping, very polite! (That would be one duet I would very much like to hear!) ‘If I were a Carpenter’ tiptoes in on drums and ends on a natty flourish. ‘Darkness, Darkness’ begins with an extra chime from Carlisle fiddling with his wires. Eric’s bass comes over well, setting the undertone and Oh-ooh that mellow voice is powering up. The band is really tight, weaving their mysterious web with wild and wonderful guitar, atmospheric keyboard, Robert stands back - returning for a lovely ending.

He describes Priory of Brion as “deliriously joyous, quite a machine from across different times and places, on keyboards from Oswestry in West Shropshire, 1400 AD and its been raining all day….Owain Glendwr. On drums…. from Tinga and Tucka, David Nixon and book collecting, Alistair Crowley. From somewhere near Robert’s house Carlisle “are you sure the chickens haven’t laid this morning” Egypt….guitar. And fresh from a trail of carnage in the fjords, Eric Bloodaxe on bass.”

From folk to black folk, from Detroit….and this is where we begin to feel trapped in row C….’Think’. This wants to be a powerful rocker, the guitar is funky, bass is groove laden, drums are rockin’, keys and vocals encourage us to rock- but we can’t move! It all leads to a great ending with a guitar leap from Carlisle. On into ‘Early in the Morning’- more build up, steady as a rock, bass and definition on drums, but its hard work sitting still.

Robert tells us that across the years there has been the search for the Goddess, happiness, peace and ‘The Bridge’. Alistair and Eric are driving us to The Bridge, Carlisle’s having fun waving his guitar around and Owain’s solo is smokin’. The voice is in fine form, not much response to “C’mon baby” from the audience but it is good to listen to Robert - his voice is real fine. ‘Dimples’ is a great example of Carlisle using the entire neck of his guitar within a single bar. This song is a bit special, an insistent riff from Eric, Carlisle looking fierce, then suddenly it’s over and they are leaving the stage.

At last people stand up…..well the first three rows at least….but they sit down again. Except one fool in row C who pleads “Surely we’re not sitting down for the encore?”. Apparently we are. Robert says “There’s always one.” and reassures us that it’s all OK. “I like it like this.”

He gives us a brief taste of what it would be like if he were to sing ‘You need coolin’ ‘ every night for ever……..sitting down!!!

So we sat through the encore:’Bluebird’, complete with an excellently timed sneeze from the audience-smiles all round on stage - we got another magical silence, true that wouldn’t have worked quite so well in one or two previous venues- it was brilliantly broken by Alistair into a reggae moment and then “Angel on my shoulder, In my hand a sword of gold.” ‘Houses of the holy’ snippet, back to “the size of your needle” and some of those wonderful quartertones that no one else can deliver in quite the same way - and a long soft note that defies description. ‘As Long as I Have You’ then ‘Trouble in Mind’ with a “Mr Paul Timothy! on keyboards”….the names he comes up with!!!?

This evening was an interesting variation on the set list with the welcome return of some old favourites ……but some of us don’t like sitting down.

Anyway, let’s hear it for the people who make it all possible, who arrive hours before the show to set it all up and are still there packing it away again when everyone else has gone home. The technicians and crew, some of whom may wish to remain anonymous but their work is nonetheless appreciated and people such as Winston-monitor engineer, Dave Mashi crew member who plays a mean drum himself and has excellent taste in lighters and Roy - the sound engineer who has known Robert a long time and has worked with him since the days of The Honeydrippers.

Thank you all and keep up the good work.(please).

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

May 26, 2000 The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Glouchestershire

Report by Sali and Ismet

Set List
Set list: A House is Not a Motel / Lazy Me / Bummer in the Summer / Bluebird / If I Were a Carpenter / Darkness Darkness / Think / Early in the Morning / We’re Gonna Groove / Baby Please Don’t Go Encore: As Long as I Have You / Season of the Witch / Gloria

Well you know how the heart sinks when you walk into the venue and see the seats and carpet? Well it wasn’t that bad! A couple of people managed to get permission to stand up because they had travelled a long way to see this and a music stand was obscuring their view, but for everyone else the order of the evening was to stay put. Robert acknowledged the difficulty, confirmed that the general wasn’t with us this evening, and things started to lighten up.

The band really is tight now and Robert is singing so well there is magic in his voice as well as in his eyes. That’s one of the beauties of these small venues. We are talking real people. It really started to come to life at the beginning of If I Were a Carpenter when someone skipped up to the stage to throw a bunch of flowers on stage, receiving an encouraging round of applause from the audience and a little smile from Robert. The band looked more comfortably spaced than of late - I mean they had a bit more room on stage, and they appeared relaxed. Robert told us a story about the sampled, ”What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for four hundred thousand.” before introducing Darkness Darkness with a reference to it ”Going down a storm on the internet” - Yep! He wills the soloists on from the back of the stage but nobody really needs any encouragement. It seemed a little less sinister tonight but still magnificent. The newly renamed Geoffrey of Monmouth moved in and out of the lead on drums and chimes and Eric Bloodaxe was always there with him on bass, making it all look effortless. Think! had the audience rocking in its seats, powerfully led by Carlisle Egypt on guitar. Groovin towards the bridge was fun and at last we could feel the audience participation, encouraged by Carlisle’s windmill arm movements which he manages to incorporate into the manic fingerwork. Owen Glendwr’s keyboard solo built up gradually increasing in power, setting the auditorium alight until even the ushers were cheering. Geoffrey was really cracking on drums and suddenly everyone in the theatre seemed to be singing Baby Please Don’t Go.

The audience came to life for the encore, moving up to the front of the stage for the Season of the Witch which was a superb example of how tight Priory of Brion have become, taking magical old numbers and moving them on, into something new. Robert really can do it all with the voice and all the band members are totally there with him, it is good. As Long as I Have You was great but Gloria was lifted to a new plane by a reference to Houses of the Holy. ”Let me take you to a movie, Let me take you to a show” - it was such a smooth move and natural fit but it gave the song a whole new meaning - and the evening a wondeful ending.

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

May 21, 2000 Phoenix Center, Exeter

Report by Sali

Set List: A House is Not a Motel / Lazy Me / Bummer in the Summer / Bluebird / If I were a Carpenter / Darkness Darkness / Think! / Early in the Morning / Groovin / Baby Please Don’t Go Encore: As Long As I Have You / Gloria / 2nd encore: Morning Dew / Trouble in Mind /

We are beginning to make a considerable number of new American friends at these shows. Tonight we met Lisa, Carol and Jennifer from Tulsa, Oklahoma - and a ‘damned fine’ time they were having.

The first few numbers involved the interplay of three guitars, Carlisle Egypt, Owen Glendwr, and Eric Bloodaxe and boy do they know how to interplay. The Giant Geraint, having metamorphosed from his previous incarnations, was clearly going to be on fine form on drums tonight moving deftly into the lighter touches for a touch of the Frere Jacques from Owen. ”Hell Yeah!” was the Lisa’s comment.

Carlisle led us cheekily into Bummer in the Summer with some unorthodox swipes and swings but then no-one could ever accuse Carlisle of being orthodox! No-one else plays quite like him, fast, furious, intricate, fun. Calls of ‘Guitar Hero’ from the audience. This is tight.

Robert began telling us about his first appearance at Exeter, at the university in 1967 and was instantly corrected by heckling anoraks but he was sure that he had appeared with Kevyn and John Bonham even if there was some argument about the date. In tonight’s introduction to Blubird Stephen Stills was cross dressed. Carlisle Egypt was in melodic mode for Carpenter and both audience and band hung on Robert’s every word with a beautiful pause before the last verse which has the auditorium spellbound - perfectly prepared for Darkness Darkness.

Robert’s comment about them being ‘Not your average band’ made Carlisle smile and as he introduced the band a call of ‘who are you?’ caused Robert to remember earlier days when he introduced everyone except himself - but made up for it by sticking his chest out.

The Giant Geraint was really rocking for Baby Please Don’t Go and inspired some wonderful shaking on down from Robert. There were some interesting lyrics I’ve never noticed before in As Long As I Have You - along the lines of ‘It’s the size of your needle’. Gloria was rousing. Happy Birthday appeared briefly on guitar and then it was a powerful Morning Dew. It’s all about the time machine. A hint of Poetry in Motion led us into Trouble in Mind which Carlisle paused brifely to confirm what many of us were thinking ‘He can still sing’. Long may it continue.

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