- Western Electric
- The Borderline London
31 May 2000
- The London debut of Western Electric saw the band
supported by the feisty US singer-songwriter Amy
Rigby. Her set consisted of songs rich in humour
and an edge which suggested that you wouldn't
want to cross her just before she recorded a new
album. After a handful of solo acoustic efforts,
she was joined by Western Electric for the rest
of her set, which gave her a fuller sound but
meant that some of her vocals got lost beneath
the instrumental volume.
-
- Amy's departure saw the arrival of Western
Electric on to the stage complete with the album
cover projected onto the wall behind Dave
Morgan's drums and a rotating light box
projecting vaguely psychedelic colours over it.
Sid announced that they were going to take us
through the album and they began as though he
meant it. The first five songs from the set
merged into one another with no between song chat
or breaks. The opening Theme From... was strong,
and whilst Emily In Ginger was perhaps less moody
than previously, the superb When I'm Out Walking
With You more than made up for it, despite a
fluffed vocal from Sid.
-
- Neil Robert Herd, who spent most of the gig at
the pedal steel added vocals to Pat's 10-4 which
also saw some great guitar work from Sid, making
it one of the early highlights. Likewise,
Whirlwind has Sid ending with an indulgent guitar
solo which eventually closed the initial part of
the set to great effect.
-
- Sid then joked about the closure of Wembley
Stadium, introducing the story of Pat's wish to
use his new found banjo skills on a heavy metal
covers band called Ban Jovi!
- After this humorous break in the proceedings, the
set continued in a slightly lighter tone.
Carousel Days featured a great harmonica ending
from Sid, before he switched to mandolin and Neil
Robert Herd strapped on his guitar to play Love
You Down. Then the Rickenbacker came out for a
very well received cover of Gene Clark's Straight
From The Heart, with all three front men sharing
the vocal harmonies. Pat then swapped his bass
for banjo for an imperfect but enjoyable Memory
Capture Time.
-
- The band were looser now than before and the
constraints of playing only album material gone.
Amy Rigby rejoined them onstage to help cover A
Song For You, before the band returned to Western
Electric to play out the rest of their main set,
finishing off with a typically lively version of
Everything.
-
- Surprisingly, there was an encore. "The fast
one" in the shape of 100 Hundred Years From
Now, was followed by the old Long Ryders' classic
Ivory Tower which has not been heard live for
many a year. With Sid urging the crowd to cheer
so that they could play one more, he returned to
the mandolin as the band ended the night with
quite possibly their finest ever version of He
Was A Friend Of Mine.
-
- This was a solid and confident performance from
Western Electric. More importantly the music
itself stood up to a live presentation. With
Western Electric being such a change in direction
from The Coal Porters, there was always a danger
that what sounded ambitious on record might not
make the transition to the live circuit, but this
was not the case. The songs came across extremely
well. The Hillman-Parsons tribute shows have
given Sid and Pat the confidence to switch to
banjo or mandolin with ease, whilst Neil is more
than competent on the pedal steel. Behind them
all, Dave Morgan held it all together and kept it
tight. Whilst The Borderline was far from full,
there was a healthy and favourable audience in
town and they were clearly satisfied by what they
saw and heard. This may not be the last time we
see Western Electric on stage
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