Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg - Monday 25th October 2010

These three wise men travelled from far and wide to find the shining light that appeared in the small town of Aschaffenburg in Germany, but it wasn’t the brilliance of the light they were looking for (which turned out to be an over powerful spotlight) it was the brillance of the man and his band who were due to perform on stage in the cosy but very atmospheric surroundings of the Colos-Saal venue.  They came to see Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel and hoped that the music would transport them back to their teenage years.  They weren’t disappointed and not only were they transported back to the 70’s, they were then taken on a 2 hour musical journey spanning around 38 years, each song conjuring up so many different memories from years past.

It started right bang up to date with ‘Faith & Virtue’ from the latest and most excellent album before taking us backwards and forwards through the years allowing us to re-live so many fabulous songs:  ‘No Bleeding Hearts’ drew a well deserved early ovation;  the wonderful bouncy arrangement of ‘Mr Soft’ had all the feet tapping;  the unmistakable opening notes of Sebastian drew an immediate cheer and culminated in the longest ovation;  the noticeable passion given to ‘This Old Man’ had the audience mesmerised;  Barry’s truly amazing violin solo during ‘The Lighthouse’ held the audience spellbound and earned him a well deserved ovation;  ‘Tumbling Down’ saw a sea of heads swaying from side to side; and yes, the German translation of ‘Oh dear, look what they’ve done to the blues’  (‘ Mein Gott, was ist passiert mit dem Blues’) really did work as we all sang along at the end of the song.  The classic songs just kept coming and coming but how is it that we can remember all of those well crafted lyrics from so many years ago when we now struggle to remember why we went to the fridge?

The Aschaffenburg crowd were a great bunch who swayed and cheered and sang their hearts out for the entire 2 hour performance, the band were brilliant (nice to see one of the original Rebels in the line up), the music was brilliant, the atmosphere was brilliant and Steve Harley proved once again that he remains at the top of his game.

Steve...these three wise and now very proud men, came up to see you, and you certainly did make us smile.  Thanks for a brilliant evening and a trip down memory lane.

Simon, Derek & Nick