Reviews
Gig Reviews
Robin II, Bilston Nr Wolverhampton 23rd Oct 1999 (link to gunga-din and see the photos!)
The Gillan"non"convention was held in Bilston,near Wolverhampton on sat 23rd of oct.As most of you probably know,the convention proper was cancelled,but a Gillan tribute band and Bernie Torme's ,Electric gypsies had agreed to play,so,just after 8pm,Gillian hit the stage,now Gillian had never played Gillans material before,Usually they are a band call"not the hoople"!,they tried, bless um,I think thats the kindest thing I can say,they did most of the popular Gillan tracks,But in the case of M.A.D. for example,I dont think they had actually heard some of them!!,although towards the end they did do good versions of "Scarabus"and"black night"...
So,we were just thinking maybe we had made wasted journeys,when this ponytailed bloke walked on stage,strapped on a guitar,said "fuck,there aint many here!"and burst into a cracking version of"all I want",no wasted journey here matey,here was a power trio to behold...they were great!!
There was a good mixture of tracks from the new"white trash guitar"cd,some older gypsies stuff and the odd Gillan track...stand out track of the night had to be "mystery train"which deserved a bigger audience,but having said that,it is much to Bernie's credit that the size of the crowd never stopped him from from putting on a great show .He struck up a good repartee with the audience and could,nt sing for laughing at one stage!. The set proper finished with a cracking version of "purple haze" and a encore of" Smoke on the water",finished the night off..must just mention the rhythm section of John Pearce,bass and backing vocals and Simon Jeffrey,drums,who laid down a solid foundation for Bernie to build on....So all in all,my verdict is,if they're playing anywhere near you,Go,you wont be disappointed!..
SET LIST..
all I want
ball &chain
ghost walking
no easy way
river
rat
vengeance
bad blood
chasing rainbows
mystery train
trouble
new orleans
turn out the lights star purple haze
and encore...smoke on the water ..
......................................................stormin norman..
Borderline London 26th Nov 1998
Hello People,
I promised that I would post a review of last night's Bernie Torme gig at the Borderline (a small, sweaty club like venue, just off the Charing Cross Road) in London, so here it is.
The gig started with the support outfit The Button Men (??) doing a 30 minute (approx.) set which was quite good if somewhat subdued (probably due to the relatively small size of the crowd, which probably hit about 80 when Bernie was on). Due to my usual lager frenzy I have forgotten all the track names, for which I apologise, but it was nice to see a support band that (a) didn't go out to deafen the audience and (b) played some interesting, melodic stuff rather than just thrashing a load of chords to death.
Bernie, John Pearce and Chris Jones came on at about 9:30 and were on for probably an hour and half. Again, being more intent on enjoying myself than remember the exact set-list, I cannot remember everything played, but the highlights were:
- No Easy Way, which was an early track, played brilliant (even allowing for slight tuning problems) bringing back memories of the old Gillan gigs (pity there was no John McCoy bouncing around, but John Pearce was a very good stand in. Chris Jones was a good stand in for Mick Underwood, but I was a bit worried because he never seem to smile. I hope he was okay as he did seem a bit cramped in behind the drum set).
- Ball and Chain, reminded me to dig out my copy of Demolition Ball which I haven't heard for ages.
- Mystery Train, ditto for Back To Babylon. I wish Bernie could get this album out on CD, as I only have a rather tatty red vinyl copy to listen to. I am not sure if there is a problem with doing so (e.g. other band members or rights to the album).
- Bad Blood and Rat, two very good heavy tracks played back to back. Bernie's playing is as good as (if not better) than I remember it from the Gillan days, I am sorry that I have not had the chance to see more of him since.
- Trouble, Turn Out The Lights and Star at the end which had Bernie doing some brilliant guitar playing gymnastics.
- The encore of Smoke and Pretty Vacant (the old Sex Pistols track) which were absolutely brilliant. I am sorry that there seems to be a certain bad feeling between Bernie and Ian Gillan because I always felt that the first three Gillan albums with Bernie on had such a good chemistry on them.
General feelings. Yep this gig was definitely worth the money (and probably ten times the money). Considering the ticket cost me about a third of the standing and seated tickets at Wembley for the two Page&Plant gigs, the view was much better, the acoustics were better and Bernie, the band and the crowd were having much more fun, it was definitely worth being here.
Disappointments? Well, after such a good gig, there should not really be any, and too be fair there weren't. I was sad that some prat threw a bottle at the guy that Bernie had invited on stage to sing Pretty Vacant. I do not who the singer was or why the prat threw a bottle at him, but why there was a need to throw the bottle was unclear. The prat was talking throughout the show and seemed more intent on hugging his mates than watching. Fortunately the Bouncer threw him out, but it just seemed so unnecessary.
I suppose that I am also disappointed because I have not seen more of Bernie live. I would love to have seen the gigs that he did with Frank Noon and Everton Williams.
All-in-all it was definitely a very good gig and I am glad to say that I was there. I hope Bernie plays live again soon.
Colin
P.s. I have not got involved in any "one guitarist versus another guitarist" argument here because having seen Blackmore, Torme and Morse now in relatively close proximity for me (e.g. three years), I think all three are brilliant, each in their own way.
I was originally going to go to Wednesday's York show but opted for a journey across the M62 to Bradford - knowing the venue from seeing Glenn Hughes play there a couple of times - though that didn't stop me from struggling to find the place, driving round Bradford and ending up missing the first three numbers :-(
They must have started around 9.20pm.The attendance was very disappointing, around 60 [?]- as though it was Bradford's own, closely-guarded, secret gig - although this didn't seem to take anything away from the performance at all. Bernie was in very good humour and excellent form.
Bad promotion or what? As I recall, Cee Dee Mail Order's gig list omitted this show, perhaps other adverts did as well. Someone mentioned the fact that Terrorvision were playing locally which would/could have had an impact. Apparently there was a better attendance at York.
Here goes as to what was played:
[Three numbers missed]
(They were: 1 was "wild West" from Electric Gypsies
2 "draw the line' from Demolition Ball
3 "chasing rainbows" unrecorded" [Bernie])
4. 'Ghost Walking' one of my favourites off 'Wild Irish'.
Pausing for a drink Bernie said, "Talk among yourselves - Oh God, there isn't enough of you to talk among yourselves!" (laughter) Three more tracks followed from 'Wild Irish'.
5. 'River' which, with its E minor intro, I thought for a brief moment wasgoing to be 'Hey Joe'. (Sussed! sort of interbred with "Little Wing". I'm nothing if not honest.... [Bernie])
6. 'Rat' the up-tempo, almost punk, opening track.
7. 'Bad Blood'.
8. 'Ball And Chain' from 'Demolition Ball'.
9. '?' ... Didn't recognise this, another E minor slow one with plenty of room for soloing. ("mystery train" from back to babylon [Bernie])
10. 'Trouble' and the first reference back to the days with Gillan.
11. 'Turn Out The Lights' with its 'Tobacco Road' groove. (not to mention "No Laughing...!" [Bernie])
12. 'Do You Want Me To Die?' [?] Again, not sure about this one. (It was "Star" from Electric Gypsies and also Back to Babylon." [Bernie])
Encores: After a brief delay when it seems one of his amps has blown, we're into the surprise song of the night.
1. 'Smoke On The Water'. "This song I played every night for two and a half years and I hated it after playing it for two and a half years and I thought I don't ever want to play it again ..... and I went and saw Patti Smith and she played it and I thought, fxxking hell its a good song!" "Actually though, in truth I thought she crucified it. I love Patti Smith's records, but I got so pissed off at the lousy version she did that night I left in disgust; hence playing it again was to try to do it some sort of justice. I obviously don't feel I have any real right to do it, its meant as a tribute and comes with a personal bunch of memories. Its also one the few purple songs I can play and (almost) sing." [Bernie]
2. 'Fallen Angel' from 'Demolition Ball'.
After the show, had a chat and got a few things autographed and they're selling his Retrowrek CD's for a tenner each. I wish I'd blagged a setlist off the stage - as you'll have noticed, there were a couple of tracks I didn't recognise.
For those that don't know, the band includes John Pearce (bass) and Chris Jones (drums). Bernie's gear was Marshall amps with, if I remember right, Hiwatt speakers.
Certainly glad I made the effort. There's a new album due to come out next February so, hopefully, there will be a tour to promote that. If there was one Gillan track I would have loved to have heard, that would be 'No Easy Way' - it certainly used to be played live.
Nigel
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