Wednesday, September 6, 2000 The Charlotte, Leicester

Report by Sali

Set list: White Rabbit / Motel / Lazy Me / Bummer in the Summer / Bluebird / If I Were a Carpenter / Darkness Darkness / Flames / As Long As I Have You / Hey Joe / GLORIA / Baby Please Don’t Go
Encore: We’re Gonna Groove / Song to the Siren

A tiny venue, a tiny stage, loads of atmsophere, many difficulties with the sound (to put it politely!) - this was like the good old days - a welcome return to ’small and imperfect is beautiful’. We were pleased to see that there was no music stand on stage (there wouldn’t have been room anyway) although there were allegedly several pieces of paper taped to the floor.

The introduction was a piece we hadn’t heard before but it came from the same evocative stable. The band squeezed onto the stage to an excited welcome and Paul, on bass guitar, began the proceedings with the introduction to a new number, Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit. This is a wonderfully psychedelic arrangement with just a hint of darkness which really suits the Priory of Brion, giving everyone a chance to shine, not least Robert’s voice which was on excellent form - lots of those quarter tones I’m always raving about (swooning over) . It was instantly clear that this was going to be a wild and loud evening. It was an excellent rendition of a great song and sure to find it’s way into my top five. It was swiftly followed by Andy’s clear, sharp click of the sticks into A House is not a Motel. Lazy Me and Bummer in the Summer went more or less according to plan except for Andy and the hardworking technician. The skin of the snare drum went and was changed during the end of Bummer in the Summer, Robert’s spiel about Stephen Stills and a large part of Bluebird. Andy kept playing by using the small tom instead of the snare. The same hardworking technician was also much in demand for retuning of guitars and searching for microphones when Robert wondered whether there might be more than one micrphone in the building.

Robert’s comment after If I Were A Carpenter suggested that they have ‘flogged that one to death’ and there wasn’t exactly a roar of dismay from the audience! By this time the sound had begun to go seriously wrong and I’m told Darkness Darkness suffered but I had just closed my eyes to ‘go with the flow’ and my critical faculties were perhaps not at their most astute. I opened my eyes to watch Tim playing a keyboard solo only to notice that he had his eyes closed. He obviously knows where all the notes are though - and finds them pretty damn quickly as his fingers were flying. There was much hard work by everyone to try to improve the sound. The monitors had stopped working completely and we got the kind of unpolished performance that some of us have been yearning for recently - ‘real and raw’. It was still great fun. Robert took it all in his stride after saying ‘it’s all over to you now Roy’ referring to the hard work going at the sound desk off stage to keep it all together. If ‘Hey Joe’ was played entirely without monitors it just goes to show what can be done.

GLORIA went down very well with instant audience participation - smiles all round on stage and for Baby Please Don’t Go.
They seemed to have got it all together for the encore. We’re gonna groove included a snippet about sugar which someone will no doubt have recognised but I didn’t. This made me wonder whether the band will ever write some of their own material. They seem to be moving in a psychedelic direction which sounds very exciting in the context of the current music scene. They didn’t leave the stage and wait to be recalled for the final number. Song to the Siren was wonderful. Kevin has a great way of playing alongside Robert’s voice, as well as weaving in and out of the keyboards. This song is a fantastic vehicle for each member of the band to show his skills and it ends with magical charm in the form of a wonderful Robert Plant wail.

It was hot, sweaty, raw, loud evening - completely different (as they say) from the polished sophistication with which we have been spoiled recently. It’s great to have opportunities to experience both. Long may it continue.

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