Man - Live and In Print
Live -
February 2nd 2002
The Standard Music Venue
Walthamstow, London
It seems incredible that a band that seemed unable to retain the
same line for more than one album during their first innings in
the 1970's is still going strong today but I can confirm that
this is most certainly the case.
I never saw Man during the 1970's but was lucky enough to be
turned on to them in the latter years of the decade by an
acquaintance (I have forgotten his name now but keep hoping to
bump into him at a gig in order to thank him, if you are out
there please get in touch) who lent me 'Live at the Padget
Rooms', 'Maximum Darkness' and, I think, 'All's Well That Ends
well' (I still have the hiss drenched tapes somewhere). Of course
everyone had 'Greasy Truckers', if only on tape. Note, all live
albums.
So in 1983 when Jones, Leonard and Ace returned with the most
excellent John 'Pugwash' Weathers (previously of Gentle Giant) on
drums I was one of the first in the queue for what I remember as
electrifying gigs at London's Marquee and various other venues by
the seemingly rockier, louder and more concise four piece band.
The gig that really sticks in my mind was a fairly low-key event
at the Three Rabbits pub in East London where I think I
appreciated Jones' ability to really stretch out (more of this
later) in Hendrix-esque fashion for the first time. This era of
the band is captured to some extent on the Friday the 13th album
recorded at the Marquee and on a recently released DVD (see links
for details). I think the band has been going pretty constantly
since 1983 (which means that their second innings is actually
coming up to its 20th anniversary!) and over the years I have
managed to catch a few London gigs, Stonehenge, (must have been
1984) plus a short set at the Canterbury Festival documented
elsewhere on this site.
Anyway enough of this, onto last night's gig…
The setlist was I believe as follows:
1. Conflict of Interest
2. Hanging On
3. Love Isn't Love
4. C'mon
5. Ride And The View
6. Popemobile
7. Many Are Called But Few Get Up
Encores
8. Bananas
9. Romain
1, 2, 3 and 6 are all from the 2000 album 'Endangered Species'
with the rest of the set made up of band staples from the 1970's.
A word about the line up, as well as the familiar front line of
Mickey Jones (guitar), Martin Ace (bass) and Deke Leonard (guitar)
the drum stool is now occupied by Bob Richards who has been
around now for about three years and on keyboards is Gareth
Thorrington. This is the first time I have ever seen Man play a
full set with a keyboard player and I must say that it improves
the overall sound immensely providing more colour and texture and
also contributing the occasional solo as in Bananas.
Conflict of Interest was a powerful opener and I was struck by
both the tight playing of the band and the solid sound.
Unfortunately over the course of the evening the instruments got
louder and louder, all but drowning the vocals, particularly
those of Jones who appeared to have a cold. The track opened and
closed with spacey keyboard washes and contained the first in a
series of damn fine solos by Jones.
I am a bit biased here in that I think Jones is one of the UK
music scene's best kept secrets, at his best as on this opening
song and on the monumental solo in C'mon he came close to
combining elements of Hendrix, Zappa and even Trey Anastasio (Phish).
Deke is a fine rock 'n roll guitarist but on occasion Jones is
from another planet!
I have to confess to not knowing all of the Endangered Species
songs that well but I really enjoyed all of them with the
exception perhaps of Popemobile whose lyrics just seem a little
too daft (I know, I know, they don't come much dafter than
Bananas!), athough musically it's nice with it's echoes of Many
Are Called in the guitar parts.
Love Isn't Love was an interesting number and left me thinking I
must buy the album (unfortunately none of the post 70's studio
efforts were on sale). It was nice to hear a set including
different tunes as sometimes the band are inclined to playing a
limited selection of classic tunes (what about doing Kerosene
sometime then guys?).
C'mon, as I have already mentioned included an extended solo from
Jones that seemed to take the whole venue to a position about 12"
above the ground. I found myself grinning at the beauty of it all
and it just seemed to go on and on (maybe because Deke had to
change a string). Just one of those musical moments that you have
to go to Man gigs for. I believe the whole number clocked in at
just a little under half an hour!
From here on in I start to lose track of the detail, Many Are
Called sounded particularly fine (apart from Deke's annoying
seagull noises) as did Bananas with it's lovely West Coast ish
major key middle section which featured a nice synth solo from
Gareth.
Altogether a great gig with the band on fine form and I shall be
making a serious effort to take in a couple more dates on this
tour and pick up a couple of the more recent studio albums. If
you have never heard the band then I would wholeheartedly
recommend that you take in the live show. If you need a
description of the music then I guess it could be called hard-edged
guitar driven rock with touches of psychedelia and US West Coast
influences. There are several particularly excellent sites out
there packed with far more information than I have given here.
In Print
A few words about Deke Leonard's history of the band through the
late 1960 and 70's - 'Winos, Rhinos and Lunatics'. This is
certainly the funniest rock biography I have ever read and
possibly the most entertaining all round. Deke's sharp wit
recalls the trials and tribulations of the band as they passed
through umpteen line-ups, tours and albums in what sounds like a
perma-stoned state. Particularly entertaining are tales relating
to Martin Ace's unique brand of lunacy (watch out for Ace meets
Tommy Cooper!), the man is a national treasure. Come to think of
so are the whole band, go see them, buy the book (on sale at the
gigs) and grab a piece of great music by a bunch of originals who
still turn in great live shows.
David February 2002
Man Links
The Man Homepage - a fan site but rather more informative than the band one - with sound files
The Man Archives - superbly informative site
Copyright Bathtub of Adventures 2001
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