Good things happen in threes...
Posted by: seagull on 04 April 2008
I recently bought Trisector (it’s playing on the ipod now and was on in the car on the way to work).
Yesterday, I went to see VdGG live for the third time in the last few years.
I was at the re-union gig at the RFH which remains the best I've ever been to. Not only because of the anticipation and the occaision (my first VdGG gig and their first together since the seventies), but the gig itself was brilliant too and the subsequent live album a frequently played reminder of that night.
I went to the Barbican to see the trio last year (VdGG without Jaxonsax?!). Again it was a triumph. It started nervously, for the band and the audience too. Would the trio work? It did and how! The band were exploring what they could do with the VdGG back catalogue without one of the integral instruments - the sax was hardly missed.
On to last night at the QEH with my brother and a good friend (formerly a frequenter of this place) so there were three of us.
Well, what can I say?
I had been playing Trisector and wondering which songs would be played. I thought ‘Interference Patterns’, maybe but it's a very complex piece requiring absolutely perfect timing and precision playing. Not only did they play it but they opened the set with it! The gig started on a high and continued at that level, the other new songs stood up well against the classics too, until Peter Hammill suddenly announced that they were going to play the last song (Man-Erg - they had played Lemmings earlier so that was two thirds of the songs from Pawn Hearts - 3 again!). Had it all gone so fast? I felt they were still warming up!
The sound was tremendous, not too loud but crystal clear. Peter Hammill's voice was the best I'd ever heard from him live. Guy Evans on drums and Hugh Banton on bass pedals and organ were both excellent. The playing was incredibly tight where required and flowed effortlessly during the maelstroms; the trademark VdGG cacophony seamlessly calming back down to the underlying tune.
Set list
Encore
This is not music for the faint-hearted and I often worry about PH’s health when he puts so much into the songs (he had a heart attack a few years ago). I’ve been a fan for over 30 years, last night confirmed why. VdGG are still Vital.
p.s. I've just checked my reflection in the cracked mirror on the wall - I'm still grinning from ears to ears...
Yesterday, I went to see VdGG live for the third time in the last few years.
I was at the re-union gig at the RFH which remains the best I've ever been to. Not only because of the anticipation and the occaision (my first VdGG gig and their first together since the seventies), but the gig itself was brilliant too and the subsequent live album a frequently played reminder of that night.
I went to the Barbican to see the trio last year (VdGG without Jaxonsax?!). Again it was a triumph. It started nervously, for the band and the audience too. Would the trio work? It did and how! The band were exploring what they could do with the VdGG back catalogue without one of the integral instruments - the sax was hardly missed.
On to last night at the QEH with my brother and a good friend (formerly a frequenter of this place) so there were three of us.
Well, what can I say?
I had been playing Trisector and wondering which songs would be played. I thought ‘Interference Patterns’, maybe but it's a very complex piece requiring absolutely perfect timing and precision playing. Not only did they play it but they opened the set with it! The gig started on a high and continued at that level, the other new songs stood up well against the classics too, until Peter Hammill suddenly announced that they were going to play the last song (Man-Erg - they had played Lemmings earlier so that was two thirds of the songs from Pawn Hearts - 3 again!). Had it all gone so fast? I felt they were still warming up!
The sound was tremendous, not too loud but crystal clear. Peter Hammill's voice was the best I'd ever heard from him live. Guy Evans on drums and Hugh Banton on bass pedals and organ were both excellent. The playing was incredibly tight where required and flowed effortlessly during the maelstroms; the trademark VdGG cacophony seamlessly calming back down to the underlying tune.
Set list
- Interference Patterns - Trisector
- Scorched Earth - Godbluff
- Nutter Alert - Present
- Lemmings - Pawn Hearts
- Lifetime - Trisector
- All that Before - Trisector
- Meurglys III, The Songwriter's Guild - World Record
- Over the Hill - Trisector
- (We Are) Not Here - Trisector
- Man Erg - Pawn Hearts
Encore
- Childlike Faith in Childhood's End - Still Life
This is not music for the faint-hearted and I often worry about PH’s health when he puts so much into the songs (he had a heart attack a few years ago). I’ve been a fan for over 30 years, last night confirmed why. VdGG are still Vital.
p.s. I've just checked my reflection in the cracked mirror on the wall - I'm still grinning from ears to ears...