Steve Harley

& Cockney Rebel

London, Shepherd’s Bush Empire (02), 10 June 2010 - Karen reports

I was kind of dreading the venue for tonight’s gig as the last couple of times we’ve seen Steve there it has been all heavy handed bouncers and rules and regulations so tight that they make even the most innocent and well-behaved concert goer feel uncomfortable . What a pleasant surprise as tonight it is nothing like before; the staff are dressed in friendly yellow, not intimidating black, the theatre has had a make-over and the general atmosphere is friendly and convivial.

Deb is miles away, on the M1, when PJH and I get to the venue and meet up with Kev, Steve and Loretta, Seb and Steve C, Mike J and Christopher, Denise, Ann and Mark, Mark and Alan and later on Wout. The timings have been rescheduled so I take my place upstairs, some of the others downstairs, for the beginning of the Lartey Sister’s own set. I have time for a quick word with their Mum and Dad who ask after my usual travelling companion (explain the M1 thing...) and have been so supportive of their daughter’s on this tour and have been getting to as many venues as they can. They are so proud of their daughters and rightly so. Ashleigh and Faye deliver what might just be their best performance of the tour; confident and smiling they easily win over the Harley audience – well done girls! You have been a sparkling support act and have added warmth and depth to the main performance. Let’s hope your music careers really blossom and take you to places you deserve to be. Congratulations and thank you!

Caron and Ollie join me upstairs just as the lights go down for Steve’s set– there’s not a spare seat to be seen (apart from the one I’m keeping for Deb), the side and rear balcony is standing only and downstairs is crammed with hundreds of people, heads turned stage-wards waiting for the arrival of their hero.

As the eight musicians are spotted taking their places in the darkness, the cheers and cries ring out, the lights go up and the band launch once more into ‘Faith and Virtue’ and, with hardly a pause for breath, ‘Psychomodo’. The faithful are singing along, the infectious beat has all downstairs dancing, and those upstairs seat-dancing for all they’re worth and when ‘Judy Teen’ arrives hundreds of voices chorus back to let him know that we’re ‘happy’ and as the final notes ring out for this song there is a glorious moment when all bar the base of the towers are lit and the band is beautifully silhouetted against the back drop – it is only for a matter of seconds but my heart skips a beat – fantastic!

‘No Bleeding Hearts’ surpasses itself tonight as the band bathed in cool, blue and purple begin the initially imperceptible support to Steve’s striking vocals and by the time you are aware that they are there, so absorbed are you with the man performing, it has already built to an amazing crescendo with the moog screeching the pain and suddenly they are all stood stock still highlighted in deep red. It brings a collective gasp of amazement and raucous cheering and applause. ‘True Love will find you in the End’ sees the audience singing along as Steve grins, smiling at the song and the fact that he chose it for the album before the quirky and surreal introduction to ‘Mirror Freak’ takes us back from the present to the human menagerie days when there was no doubt he was gonna make it in a big, big way.

‘This Old Man’ is next with Steve out front, guitar slung round his back, as Barry’s violin and Lincoln’s bass keep time along with Robbie on tambourine and then the switch to mandolin for ‘All Men are Hungry’ as Faye strums along with Steve and James’s piano holds the underlying melody throughout and we are truly on another Timeless Flight.
‘Mr Raffles’ and ‘Here Comes The Sun’ provide, as they have done all tour, the opportunity for mass crowd participation and the sound of hundreds of voices permeate the fabric of the venue and the pounding of Stuart’s drums grabs your very core before ‘the Lighthouse’ with watery blue lava-lamp like droplets on the backdrop and the violin reaching ever higher notes and Steve’s appreciation for Barry shown in a huge hug at the end. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before all tour, but ‘Blinded with Tears’ it just on fire and has the whole band with the exception of Stuart singing the chorus – wonderful stuff!

‘Loretta’s Tale’ makes a welcome return to the set with Robbie’s sweet guitar to the fore and James’s excellent dulcimer chiming and then we’re off and bopping once more with ‘Mr Soft’ before the sublime title track of the new album and a very welcome stranger has surely come to Shepherds Bush tonight.

As the lights turn green and red and James keyboards herald the start of ‘Sebastian’, we know we are in for a real treat. Perhaps one of the oldest songs in Steve Harley’s repertoire, this timeless classic just gets better and better with each performance and has done so, not only over the years, but at each concert on this tour too. It twists and turns, builds and fades and all the time under the complete control of Steve who is conducting the magnificent Cockney Rebel orchestra, tonight, once more, augmented by Ashleigh’s flute – who needs the LSO when you have these very talented musicians on the stage at Shepherd’s Bush?

The stomping and cheering go on forever as they all take their bows and the stage is once more plunged into darkness and we clap and cheer and cry out for yet more. The sustained applause is rewarded with the encore as Steve sets out towards a ‘Journey’s End’, promising always to be there for his son and, we hope, for us also, for many performances yet to come. ‘Tumbling Down’ is what the audience want to hear and we get our hearts desire as the cries of ‘oh dear look what they’ve done to the blues’ ring out and if you shut your eyes you are transported back to one of those huge gigs of the seventies in London with the same refrain echoing down the tube stations as you wend your way home. Finally the evening is topped off by the wonderful ‘Make Me Smile’ and as the lights go up in the auditorium, I spot Deb dancing off to my left on the balcony.

Steve beams the hugest of smiles and he is greeted by a full standing ovation bringing to an end, not only what has been, a most fantastic evening but also a sublime Ireland and UK tour for us all. Thank you Faye and Ashleigh, thank you Robbie, Lincoln, Stuart, James and Barry but most of all thank you Steve Harley for bringing the smiles back to our faces!

 

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