WaterboysFans - Review

THE ACOUSTIC WATERBOYS - MAIDSTONE, KENT
13TH APRIL 2001
REVIEW BY PETER LENNIE

My journey started at about 1:30, having just watched Liverpool lose to Leeds 
and in need of some cheering up. I had the best part of 300 miles to go so I 
chose a few CDs to keep me company. I set off down the road to a selection of 
Irish Folk music, Dylan and a smattering of The Waterboys. It was a pretty 
smooth drive, heading South seemed pretty clear as I passed all the traffic 
jams on the other side of the road. Rick's directions led me right into the 
heart of Maidstone and to a car park just round the corner from the venue.

As I strolled past The Soul Cafe I heard the instantly recognisable sound of 
a certain fiddler playing When Ye Go Away. Rick came out looking pretty 
relaxed about things, like he has The Waterboys play at his club most weekends 
;-) I saw Cat strolling around the front of the venue, trying to look as 
relaxed as Rick. After a brief walk around town we joined the queue, about 
12 people from the front. Maidstone was an exceptionally cold place on Friday 
night. My place in the queue was directly below the vent from the kitchen fan 
of the Italian restaurant attached to the venue. I've never been so glad to 
have warm garlicky air blowing down the back of my neck, well maybe once but 
that's best left undiscussed ;-)

We got into the F Word and after a quick look around, found seats on the 
front row, just to the right of the stage. The layout was basically a bar 
area at the back, with some standign room, then about 100 chairs laid out in 
rows for the front half of the hall. It was a tiny place, far smaller than 
anywhere I'd seen the band before. Capacity was only 200 and there was a real 
intimacy to the place. The stage was a small platform, lalf covered by just 
2 of Richard's keyboards, and raised probably about 4 inches off the floor.

Sat chatting for a while, meeting people off Waterpeople and Delphi at 
regular intervals. The only interruptions were Rick's ever more urgent 
pleadings for the owners of a green Audi and a silver Escort to move them 
from the front of the venue. I wondered why Rick was so concerned with traffic 
congestion in Maidstone until he explained that the cars in question were 
blocking in the car that was due to fetch the band. 

Then at 8:30 Rick took to the stage to welcome the night's support act, 
Catacoustics. Cat took to the stage, electric guitar in hand, with Rick 
Campion on acoustic guitar and Steafan Hannigan on a plethora of instruments, 
including Uillean pipes, flute and bhodran. I've never heard the band before 
so I don't know anything about their full line up but I can confirm that the 
cut down acoustic version were great. Cat was such a powerful singer, a great 
big soulful sound for such a little person ;-) Rick's guitar underpinned 
everything marvellously while Steafan went through a variety of instruments, 
fascinating on each. After a brief set of about half an hour, they left to 
more applause than a support act normally gets and they were well worth it.

After 40 minutes or so Rick again took to the stage sporting a huge, and very 
well deserved, grin. He explained how putting on this show had been a dream 
of his for many years and asked everyone to welcome Mike Scott. At first I 
thought Rick's nerves had got the better of him and he'd introduced Mike 
instead of The Waterboys in error. But Mike walked out, from the little stage 
door to the side, on his own. When the applause died down Mike started to tell 
us the tale of how he first came to work with Steve. He said how he'd heard 
a Sinead O Connor demo tape and on it there was the most wonderful fiddle 
sound. He'd asked who it was and had been given a contact number. For weeks 
he couldn't get in touch with the mystery fiddler and it became a mission to 
find him. Eventually Mike did get in touch with Steve and brought himover 
to England to play on a track. Mike told the crowd how on arrival, Steve had 
planted himself on Mike's floor and proceded to tell him the story of his 
life. In return Mike had fed him tomato soup. He told Steve that if he ever 
split from his band to come and join him in The Waterboys and they'd have 
'The best band in the world, and he did, twice.'

Steve took to the stage and the pair launched into When Will We Be Married, 
the fiddle sound instantly spiriting me back 12 years, to the 89 shows. Live, 
and on the album, it's such a haunting song and one that Mike sings really 
well. The hairs on the back of my neck were all on end and I was tingling 
with anticipation. To my knowledge, this was Steve's first public performance 
with Mike, on British soil, since Glastonbury 1989. That was the last time 
I saw Steve  play and he's lost nothing over the years. From the first note 
the sound captivates you, as he coaxes sounds you can't believe out of his 
fiddle. There's something so fitting about seeing Steve up on stage with Mike 
again, it's like putting right a wrong. The two of them were surely fated to 
play together, it's such a sweet symbiotic relationship.

When the song finished Mike told another story, this time about hearing the 
most fantastic piano playing from an adjacent studio. His assistant had gone 
to investigate and came back with a scrap of paper containing a name and a 
phone number. He'd contacted the piano player and got him to play on a track. 
Since then, he said, this concert had been a dream of his. To get the 2 of 
them playing an acoustic show with him, With that he brought Richard on stage 
and the 3 of them settled into Open, a song I don't think I've heard live 
before. It was a strange experience to see the band in such a small venue. 
Sat where I was, on the front row, I was only a few feet away from them all 
and it gave a great opportunity to focus on some of the details you can't 
normally see. I had a real close up of Richard's hands flying over the piano 
and got to see Steve using his bow to coax the notes out of his fiddle.

Mike introduced the next song as the one that Steve came over to record, the 
time he had the tomato soup. The 3 of them played a near perfect version of 
The Pan Within. I watched enrapt as Steve bounced his bow on the violin 
strings near the start of the song and as Richard's piano sound swelled as 
the song built.

The next song was Something That Is Gone, slowing the tempo right down. One 
thing about the acoustic shows, that I first noticed on the 1995 tour is how 
much more detail you can hear in the singing. Every nuance is there for you 
to hear without the amplification masking it. Mike was really wrapping his 
voice around the words and seemed to be enjoying himself.

Crown followed next, with Richard laying into the synths in the latter stages 
of the song as Steve really let the fiddle loose. The three of them created 
a massive soundscape, totally engulfing the tiny venue. Mike said that he 
didn't really know what the next song was about and if anyone knew, perhaps 
they could explain it to him later. The song in question was Wind In The 
Wires, another of the Rock In A Weary Land songs that cried out for The 
Wick's touch, and here they got it. Always a beautiful song, the plaintive 
violin added another dimension.

Steve intoduced the next song as one he'd written using the words of a 
Robert Frost poem (Stepping By Woods On A Snowy Evening), that was entitled 
Whose Woods These Are. I think Steve played mandolin on this one and Mike 
played one of those instruments I can never be exactly sure of. Could well 
have been the bouzouki bought in Greece, last year. 

Before the next song, Mike sternly warned Rich to 'Keep It Country' for this 
one. They played Has Anybody Here Seen Hank, with Rich getting another couple 
of 'Keep It Country' warnings. Next up was a little change to the setlist 
with an impromptu version of Honky Tonkin. It probably came as more of a 
surprise to Richard, who apparently didn't know the song. At least he knew 
the key as Mike told him it was 'Honky Tonkin in F'. When it ended Mike 
turned to Richard and said 'I bet when you got that phone call you never 
thought you'd end up playing Honky Tonkin'. As Rich smiled, Mike commented 
'You wait until we get to the gospel stuff'.

Is She Conscious was next up, followed by It's All Gone. It was a beautiful 
version with Steve playing fiddle and also doing the 'Ian McNabb' call and 
response singing. Mike then told the story of the band back in 1988, when 
they used to ride along the bay, on their bicycles to Spiddal House. That 
was where the next song came from, When Ye Go Away. I'd been looking forward 
to this one, with Steve's fiddle and Rich's piano both on that solo. There 
was some problem with Steve's fiddle so it was inaudible for the first time 
through the solo. They sorted it pretty quickly though and by the time they 
reached the solo for the 2nd time the fiddle was back and the two soloing 
instruments worked brillianyly together.

Mike said he was in the mood for a Scottish/Irish jig but it relied on 
Richard's co-operation on the flute. Richard steadfastly refused so Mike 
said he'd make it worth his while. Rich asked how to which Mike replied he'd 
return Rich's Emerson Lake and Palmer CDs. Richard immediately agreed and 
reached for his flute. Mike played his new Shruti box as they played the 
Kings Of Kerry Slide.

This was followed by A Song For The Life, A song that Mike and Steve worked 
on when they did some work on Sharon Shannon's solo album. Richard then 
started a stunning piano version of the Don't Bang The Drum intro. Mike stood, 
without his guitar to sing the song. It was the soulful, slowed down version 
with those silent pauses where the fiddle, paino and Mike all stop for a 
moment. Unfortunately this gap highlighted a group, just to the side of the 
stage who were talking loudly throughout. Mike stopped the song and asked if 
they'd like the band to play quieterso they could hear themselves talk. he 
had to walk over to that side of the stage and repeat himself before it had 
the desired effect. With the distractions over, Mike started the song off 
where it had been interrupted. After that the whole room was silent, for the 
pauses. You could just hear the slight hiss of the PA as everyone held their 
breath with the intensity of it all.

Bring Em All In followed and was greeted like an old favourite by the crowd. 
Steve then introduced a song telling of some time they spent with Greenpeace. 
He sang it and played concertina on Upon The Wind and Waves. Afterwards he 
remarked how it was funny that these eco warriors were trying to keep their 
identities hidden and a year later they were all in A Waterboys song. Steve 
mentioned the derivation of the term shanty from the french Chante, to sing 
before starting Shenandoah. The band finished off the main set with 
Fisherman's Blues before thanking everyone and leaving.

The crowd roared for more, with Rick encouraging them to roar even louder. 
The band came back and played A Bang On The Ear with huge grins on their 
faces. Mike then took a seat at the piano with Richard on the 2nd keyboard. 
Someone shouted out for We Will Not Be Lovers, to which Mike asked if he 
looked like he was about to play We Will Not Be Lovers. He told the person 
to come along to a full band show and he'd hear 'The best version of We Will 
Not Be Lovers ever'. They shouted back 'At the Fleadh' and Mike said yes 
definitely, adding that if there was a roof at the Fleadh the band would blow 
it off. As Rich went to start the organ part the levels were all wrong and 
a deep fog horn sound drowned out the piano. Mike laughed and asked if that 
was a train before restarting Come Live With Me. This time Rich got the organ 
part just right as they laid down a soulful version.

The familiar sound of Savage Earth Heart on the guitar started up next, with 
the violin sounding as rousing as it did on the 1986 versions. Mike then said 
what a special show it was as he knew people had travelled from far and wide. 
Also because there were so many people off the internet fan forums present, 
this go a cheer as everyone looked around trying to work out who people were 
when they'd only typed at each other in the past. Saints and Angels closed the 
show. I always have a tinge of regret when I hear that song as it signals 
the end of the show. The band left to a standing ovation and the show was over.

It was a great evening, Mike seemed very relaxed in the company of 'friends'. 
His singing just seems to get better and better each show. Richard's playing 
was sublime and Steve's fiddle, as always, was a thing of unnatural beauty. 

I got back to my car, to head off home at about 1:45. Mrs Len, having just 
woken up, rang to ask how far from home I was. I explained I was sat in a car 
park in Maidstone, waiting for the ice to clear off the windscreen before I 
set off. I drove back through the night, finally getting home at 7am exhausted 
but happy, very glad that I'd made it to see the cut down line up in such a 
small venue.