Belfast, Spring and Airbrake, 24 May 2010 - Deb and Karen continue their journey

Our delightful Dublin hotel had wireless access on the ground floor cafe so whilst we tucked into a huge full Irish breakfast (Deborah) and the weirdest breakfast ever (Karen) we topped and tailed our report and posted it up as instructed- ooops have no idea what happened to the font! Panic email to Andy who was probably tearing his hair out and shouting...sorry!

At around 11am we packed our bags and head off to the station. We managed to get best bargain tickets ever for the train trip to Belfast at E10 a head instead of the usual E38. The journey took us along the coast with wide open estuaries and villages of white houses dotted in amongst vast swathes of green and increasingly mountainous countryside. Finally as we neared Belfast, brick and concrete took over and we were once again at the centre of a bustling city. Much pfaffing at the station made us the last to emerge from the foyer into the Belfast sunshine, just in time for the very cheery cabbie Alex with his gaudy taxi to draw the short straw and have to deal with some very excited Harley-fans. Alex had more than heard about Steve Harley he could actually sing one of his songs and happily dropped us off, giving us a tourist guide en route and pointing out the location of the venue before leaving us at our hotel and promising to be on hand for any future journeys required.

The hotel has the internet but not a lot else so we decide a bit of exploration is in order, besides we need to get a certain fiddle player we know a birthday card and something edible to celebrate with. In retrospect we should have bought the cake last..... 45 minutes of schlepping round the streets of Belfast and the lovely cup cake we’d bought for Barry is looking ever so slightly the worse for wear. We sit down in a local park to eat our Tesco’s sarnies and fathom our next move and Deborah holds up the sorry specimen of a cake and, whilst Karen is still trying to think what we can do to rescue the situation, Deb shoves most of the cake in her own gob! Howls of laughter ensue, rolling around on the grass in the park with tears in our eyes. Deborah leaves the last morsels for Karen and has to do a mile round trip on foot, in ludicrous shoes, to buy another cake.

Back at the hotel and cake mark II has fared slightly better than its predecessor – it’s all packaged up with candle and card and ready to go when we summon Alex and head off to the Spring and Airbrake. We are hardly through the door when Steve M and his son Mattew hail us and soon after we are joined by Jim P, Ruud and Bea (who are from HOLLAND not Belgium), our good friend Hazel is there from Scotland and she gives Deb a lovely birthday necklace. The Spring and Airbrake is in a complex of three other venues in a huge red brick building that may at one time been some sort of factory or warehouse. A foyer leads to an open venue with a distinctive industrial feel, It has a bar down one side, raised seated area (which was full) on another and a curious arrangement of stage diagonally across one corner. The support act are on, the venue is filling up and another night of wonderment is about to unfold.

Believe us when we say it is never the same twice; the people are different, the venue is different, the positioning of the band is different, the lighting is different, the songs, their arrangement, even single bars and notes are different. Tonight the red lights hit the stage in such a way that you are aware of a sea of chrome, tinged crimson, circles of white light spin across the stage and leap out at you and others bathe Steve and the band members in a glorious individual light as prowess and performance is lit to perfection. Only Lincoln escapes by lurking in a dark corner from which it is difficult to see the producer of the fine bass lines which enrich and balance the musicality of every song – Steve quite rightly drags him centre stage towards the end to take a deserved bow.

But let us tell you more of this man and his amazing band of musicians.....Barry is on fire tonight, the bow of the violin drawing slowly and subtly across the strings one minute to incredible effect or alternately whipping from side to side in a frenzy of fairground twists. Not content with contributing one instrument he also gives us both electric and acoustic guitar. Another with a range of instruments to hand is Robbie who delivers us gentle rhythms and roaring fire, from inorganic instruments where hands coax the organic sounds that delight all who hear. Called upon to deliver a surprising encore he picks up the smallest of his guitars (that'd be a mandolin then!) and nails it.

Stuart might be towards the back of the stage but at times the incredible beat and unusual rhythms are actually pulsating out from the stage, into the floor and up through our bodies. You can actually feel the drums singing the structure of the songs tonight, underpinning, at times leading and always with a grace and ease from our favourite drummer which belies the magnitude of the force apparent. James, well what can we say; we would like to be in Jamesworld it seems a very interesting place, it has walls of sound adorned with every musical device known to man, prepared to jingle, clack, crash and wail, every part of the body used to bring out deep sounds, arm crashes and grimaces that say this means so much; a man at home in his own musical world. Love it! How can you be so co-ordinated and musically gifted to play keyboards, melodica and tambourine with your foot all at once. Some of us can’t even pat our heads and rub our stomach’s at the same time!

And then there is the leader of this marvellous collective. It’s hot and steamy on stage and Steve’s voice, his very own instrument, voice cuts through the atmosphere of the venue, using it to express the meanings in his songs, enunciating, stretching adding emphasis to emotions and letting you know how he feels in a note, a nuance, a smile. He was loving it and the audience response was no more than he deserved. This was no rehearsal tonight – the full-on thing! He responded, we responded. He gave we took, we gave he took. Thank you Steve!

The joy is in not knowing what is coming next. There might be a set list, there might not. All we want to do is stand in the dark like a kid in the doorway at Christmas, waiting for the lights to go on the tree and the wonder of the presents below to be seen – those first notes – not knowing what they might be are that moment; a moment to be savoured, where the unexpected greets you, takes you in and holds you .... for a lifetime.

Impromptu requests acceded to – Pat (and his very patient wife Gloria) go home in totally ecstasy and a superbly special moment for the lovely Heather who collected plectrum and handshake in speechless wonderment, the tears of joy streaming down her face she just said "I’m the happiest woman alive" and her whole persona said that she was . Aw! Some things are meant to be and dreams really do come true!

All too soon it is over for another night, the cold air greets us, the lights of the stage may have faded but the memory keeps them burning bright within... sweet dreams!

Set List:

Faith and virtue
Psychomodo
Judy Teen
Panorama
No bleeding hearts
True love will find you in the end
Mirror freak
This old man
All the men are hungry
Mr Raffles
Here comes the sun
Baby shoes
The Lighthouse
Mr soft
Stranger comes to town
Blinded with tears
Sebastian

(back for an encore and chat including Steve asking audinece what he should play next?)

Lorretta's tale - audience member request
Riding the waves - audience member request
Make me smile

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