Purely fortuitous that I was at this concert. I hate reunion gigs regarding them as an excuse to over milk the fans of hard earned cash. However I was offered a spare ticket which I paid for and took a punt. It turned out to be a great way to end my birthday.
The first time I saw Hoople was at the Watford Town Hall about 25 miles north of Central London in March 1970.They were bottom of a 3 band bill(always at least 3 bands in those far off days) with Keef Hartley Big Band and East of Eden. At that time I thought they played too long and were indifferent. Saw them again at York University in 1973 in their Angel of 5th Avenue days and they were good. Now (with I suspect the drink and the drugs less dominant in their blood stream and years of practice on their instruments) they are better than they ever were.
They played all their hits, including “All the Young Dudes”( a great David Bowie song), “All the Way From Memphis”, “Do You Remember The Saturday Gigs?” and ”The Golden Age of Rock “n” Roll.” The playing of the keyboards by Verdun Allen was particularly fine on his old Hammond. Very reminiscent of Al Kooper on the early Dylan Electric Albums such as Blonde on Blonde.
One of the best songs on the night was played early on. This was Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane.” Hearing this song when I bought the “All the Young Dudes” album in 1972 was what got me into the Velvet Underground, even if I was a “White Boy” not knowing what I was “doing on this side of town” The Dudes album was produced by David Bowie as was Lou Reed’s Transformer Album which also featured backing vocals by the Thunderthighs. The latter alson appeared on Mott The Hoople single “Roll Away The Stone.” This song was perfomed on Thursday night with the siblings of the band on backing vocals, substituting for the Thunderthighs, in particular Ian Hunter’s daughter. She looked like her dad did in the 1970s with long frizzy hair and shades. The only difference is her face has smoother skin and she has a bigger chest than dad.
We had great seats near the front but we stood up throughout the 2 hours.
Unusually for reunion gigs all the old band were there although drummer Buffin is very ill and was only able to play the 3 encore numbers.For the rest of the night drums were played by Martin Belmont ex rhythm guitarist for Graham Parker and the Rumour. Mick Ralphs (who later played in the post Free band of Paul Rodger’s Bad Company) was excellent on lead guitar. Ian Hunter looked exactly the same as I remember him from my student days.Overend Watts strutted his stuff in front of the stage on Bass.. I danced as only a wrinkly 57 year old can. Certainly did wonders for my arthritus and my cell phone flew out of my shirt breast pocket at one particularly energetic moment.That’s what us Brits mean when we call them mobiles.
If Mott do this reunion in the States go see them.
Purely fortuitous that I was at this concert. I hate reunion gigs regarding them as an excuse to over milk the fans of hard earned cash. However I was offered a spare ticket which I paid for and took a punt. It turned out to be a great way to end my birthday.
The first time I saw Hoople was at the Watford Town Hall about 25 miles north of Central London in March 1970.They were bottom of a 3 band bill(always at least 3 bands in those far off days) with Keef Hartley Big Band and East of Eden. At that time I thought they played too long and were indifferent. Saw them again at York University in 1973 in their Angel of 5th Avenue days and they were good. Now (with I suspect the drink and the drugs less dominant in their blood stream and years of practice on their instruments) they are better than they ever were.
They played all their hits, including “All the Young Dudes”( a great David Bowie song), “All the Way From Memphis”, “Do You Remember The Saturday Gigs?” and ”The Golden Age of Rock “n” Roll.” The playing of the keyboards by Verdun Allen was particularly fine on his old Hammond. Very reminiscent of Al Kooper on the early Dylan Electric Albums such as Blonde on Blonde.
One of the best songs on the night was played early on. This was Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane.” Hearing this song when I bought the “All the Young Dudes” album in 1972 was what got me into the Velvet Underground, even if I was a “White Boy” not knowing what I was “doing on this side of town” The Dudes album was produced by David Bowie as was Lou Reed’s Transformer Album which also featured backing vocals by the Thunderthighs. The latter alson appeared on Mott The Hoople single “Roll Away The Stone.” This song was perfomed on Thursday night with the siblings of the band on backing vocals, substituting for the Thunderthighs, in particular Ian Hunter’s daughter. She looked like her dad did in the 1970s with long frizzy hair and shades. The only difference is her face has smoother skin and she has a bigger chest than dad.
Unusually for reunion gigs all the old band were there although drummer Buffin is very ill and was only able to play the 3 encore numbers.For the rest of the night drums were played by Martin Belmont ex rhythm guitarist for Graham Parker and the Rumour. Mick Ralphs (who later played in the post Free band of Paul Rodger’s Bad Company) was excellent on lead guitar. Ian Hunter looked exactly the same as I remember him from my student days. Overend Watts strutted his stuff in front of the stage on Bass.. I danced as only a wrinkly 57 year old can. Certainly did wonders for my arthritus and my cell phone flew out of my shirt breast pocket at one particularly energetic moment. That’s what us Brits mean when we call them mobiles. If Mott do this reunion in the States go see them.
In a stroke of synchronicity, I listened to Ian Hunter’s “All-American Alien Boy” just last weekend from a “Greatest Hits” album I have from his solo career. For the uninitiated, “All-American Alien Boy” has perhaps the BEST bass solo in all of rock and roll, just this side of John Entwhistle’s work on “The Real Me” from The Who’s “Quadraphenia.” I never saw Mott or Ian live, though they both toured through Los Angeles extensively in the early to mid-70s, but always was impressed with Ian’s bitter wit and biting sarcasm. If they should decide to take their show on the road to the states and pop into LA, I shall certainly take Mr. Row’s advice and go see them.
PS: Hadn’t thought of Keef Hartley in YEARS!! Dear God, Mr. Row!! We are SO goddam old . . .
hahaha!! Glad you approve of our new UK correspondent!