- Western Electric
- Borders Bookshop,
London 15 September 2000
- Part of a mini-tour of UK Borders Bookshops,
spanning 3 months, this London show gave Western
Electric the chance to play some of their album
in a slightly more relaxed atmosphere. When I
arriv ed shortly before the 6.30pm start, there
was a chance that it was going to turn into an
acoustic gig, as the band had been unable to
locate the power points. As Neil Robert Herd
explained standing in front of a whole bank of
book shelves, they had been told that the power
was located behind the books!!
- Eventually the band got the power sorted and the
set began about 15 minutes later than scheduled.
The line-up this evening was the familiar
Griffin/McGarvey/Herd/Morgan from the UK tour.
They kicked off with Theme From Western Electric
and went straight into Emily In Ginger, with Neil
Robert at the pedal steel and the rest of the
guys on their more usual instruments (if these
guys have such a thing). After the first couple
of songs, the band stopped to query the sound
which they were not quite happy about, Sid
apologising and using the opportunity to plug
their upcoming gig at The Spitz where he said
they will run the songs together more. After When
I'm Out Walking With You, they stopped again to
adjust the volume, with Sid suggesting they
increase the other instruments rather than
"tell Pat his bass is too f.......
loud"!
- After this change they appeared more satisfied
with the sound quality. Pat got his first vocal
outing of the evening on 10-4, which sounded bet
ter than the album version. After this, there
were a few veiled comments relating to Whirlwind,
which had been criticised in the recently
published review of the album in Uncut magazine.
Hence, instead of playing it, they opt for
Carousel Days which goes down well enough with
the Borders crowd, suitably relaxed sitting on
chairs or the floor, or just stood watching over
the bookshelves.
- Neil Robert Herd then came out from behind his
pedal steel to join Sid on guitar for Gene
Clark's Straight From The Heart. When I first
heard this song I was not convinced of its
quality, but having heard it live and re-listened
to it on the album since, my opinion has changed.
Tonight's version is proof. Neil and Pat add
backing vocals and the song builds to climax,
growing in strength all the time. From this point
the band have the audience fully engaged. Pat's
Memory Captures Times was in my opinion the best
song of the set, with Pat's vocals at their best
and the guitars chiming out to great effect. Neil
returned to the pedal steel for a great version
of One Hundred Years From Now, proving that
Western Electric can make covers fit into a set
as well as The Coal Porters. This was followed by
Faithless Disciple, whilst the set ended with the
marvellous Everything, which despite Sid's vocal
cock-up closed the proceedings on a high note.
- With the band on the eve of an American tour,
this was almost a rehearsal for the band. They
were focused and professional and the material
cannot be doubted. If this show was anything to
go by, the States are in for a long-overdue taste
of Sid's more recent musical output and it should
be a sweet one. Meanwhile, the UK must wait for
their return with growing anticipation.
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