Sunday, July 9, 2000 World Music Day, Shrewsbury Castle

Report by Sali

set list: Motel / Lazy Me / Bummer in the Summer / Bluebird / If I Were a Carpenter / Darkness Darkness / ?Flames? / GLORIA / Baby Please Don’t Go encore: Song of the Siren / Irene 2nd encore: As Long as I Have You / Reggae Houses of the Holy

This was a short sharp performance - and boy was it tight! :-) This was a world music day with Priory of Brion last on and having to squeeze as much as possible into the last remaining minutes of the licenced time available. They did a great job - not a second was wasted - we didn’t even get to hear the names of the band. I wonder who they are? They are getting very tight and very heavy, hmmm very tight very heavy - could that be a title for an album? They wouldn’t would they? They might if current form is anything to go by.

wardrobe watch - sorry folks I nearly forgot !: Carlylse - Very natty grey suit (nice long jacket), white shirt, black boots, trousers not tucked in! Eric All in black. What’s the drummer called - Alistair?- black short sleeved shirt, couldn’t see the rest. Mr. Paul Timothy Owen - Black T shirt, black trousers, black shoes. Singer - sorry, not sure of the name, very casual, Hippy Moroccan type black cotton hooded shirt with silver, pink and purple decoration, loose black trousers, red shoes with cork soles. Accessories: silver bangles, silver chain around his neck with what looked like a Viking Longboat, leather around one ankle. I have to say he looked and sounded fantastic.

The stage was set with some frenetic activity by the crew who worked incredibly hard to get everything ready in the minimum of time and the faithful were not kept waiting long. The opening numbers were wonderfully powerful and energetic and it was great to see Carlylse enjoying himself so much. Robert told us that we wouldn’t be hearing all the familiar numbers but there were enough to keep us happy. Carpenter was introduced against a call for something called ‘Stairway’ to which Robert replied “Why would we be doing that?…… Why would anyone be doing that?” Keyboards came over well here and the bass player looked so laid back I was worried he might fall off the stage. Particularly notable was Darkness - no honestly I swear it is still getting better. Carlysle in particular was really going for it and the vocals made my knees go weak. Superb. There was a very impressive new number “Flames” which Robert said was by Elmer Gantree’s Velvet Opera. Anyway Carlysle brought out a different guitar which had a powerful dynamic sound. He produced some exciting sounds which Robert enjoyed singing with, fascinating harmonics and lots of smiling faces. Alistair was having a great time on drums and there was a lot of movement up and down the bass guitar - you wouldn’t have known it from his face but I think Eric was working pretty hard there. Owen was having fun on keyboards and it really felt as if everyone was having a great time and they made the most of the ending. We were well entertained. GLORIA was great fun and Baby Please Don’t Go was tight.

The encore opened with a beautiful rendition of a Tim Buckley number, Song of the Siren and this was simply magical. It is a beautiful song and it clearly means a lot to Robert. This was obvious from the quality of his voice and the sensitive power of his singing. I was strongly reminded of Julie Murphy’s haunting version and couldn’t help thinking what a duet that would make! It was very moving and should become a most popular addition to the set list. (Sorry I can’t say the same about Irene - not my kind of song at all.)

We were amazed and very pleased to get a second encore - well done Shrewsbury! - particularly when it contained As Long as I Have You. There was lots of waving about of the guitar for those expensive special effects and whatisname really let rip on the keyboard. I think it was a case of ‘How many notes can I fit into sixty seconds?’. Bass and drums got the message and everyone was pretty wild - possibly with Carlysle having a very slight edge. Anyway they packed absolutely everything into the last few seconds and if you have to end it’s a great way to end.

Robert’s parting words were something like “It’ll get more professional.”

Not too professional I hope?

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