Record Store 'Michelle' And 'Logo' Club, 2-May-2000

The "Special Instore Acoustic Gig" at the record store 'Michelle' started at 17:00 CET. The place wasn't very crowded - there was just a handful of people. The store was very small and a bit outside of the main street. That, coupled with the bad promotion, meant that only people who were searching for a special CD or who knew about the special gig were there. (With the exception of the venues 'Michelle' and 'Logo', I didn't see any posters advertising the gig. I also searched for the CD in various stores and only found it at the 'Michelle'.)

Paul, Philip & Dave Kent (!), who will support the two for the next ten days in Germany, were as excellent as ever. They played the following tracks without any technical support:

Mercy Of The Guards
The Trigger
Refugee
The Bells
Rising Road
Ghosts Of Cable Street
Greenback Dollar

With the exception of the songs that are normally accoustic, the others ('Rising Road' and 'Refugee', sung by Dave Kent of course, were my faves) sounded very different. For example, guitar accompaniment for 'Ghosts Of Cable Street' started at the chorus (!). 'Greenback Dollar' and 'The Bells', sung by Philip, were each like a rebirth of the song. 'The Trigger' became a duet between Philip & Paul (!) and was very cool.

Later at 'The Logo', which is a good place to play (nice sound, not too loud), a few dozen people came together & had a great time. The support for O & S fell through, so the three guys started to play at 21:30 CET with these songs (the order is not 100% accurate):

Going Back To Coventry
Nightbird
Pieces Of Paradise
The Trigger
Barrett's Privateers
Mercy Of The Guards
The Light
Refugee
You Make My Mind Stand Still
Fires Below
Ghosts Of Cable Street
Sky And The Sun
Rising Road

Walkin' Talkin'
Greenback Dollar

Ironmasters

Smugglers

Folks, they were fuckin' great. This one was more than a gig, it was an Odgers & Simmonds party. The atmosphere was terrific. All the people there knew the songs and sang them all together. There was no pogo-dancing, etc., just some people who wanted to fully enjoy the band. The three also enjoyed it a lot - sometimes they let the crowd sing the chorus alone.

To hear and see (yes, to hear it is not enough, folks!) Swill singin' Barrett's Privateer live is something you won't forget in your lifetime (those of you who have experienced it know what I mean). Paul played many songs on his mandolin (waitin' too long to hear it again), which we all enjoyed so much that we made them come back on stage for 3 encores. At the end of this evening they played the best version of Smugglers I ever heard.

Dirk

Source: Pieces Of Paradise

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