blueskev wrote:Had a great time in Brighton on Saturday
I will write a review when I can but for now here is a video (not brilliant but the sound is ok) of Stainsby girls:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gE7zS60Jd4
Regards,
Kev.
We (my wife Louise and I) have seen Chris in Brighton four times now and although it isn't the most interesting venue, being a modern hall, the sound is good and the wheelchair access is easy. Although London is closer to us, Brighton is easier to drive in to.
We didn't get off to a good start, we had trouble finding somewhere to eat because everywhere was full as it was a Saturday. The other concerts we have been to have been during the week so it wasn't a problem. This slight hitch made us late so we missed the start of Paul Casey's set. I enjoyed the songs we heard but I felt that some backing would have been good, Just his singing and acoustic guitar was a bit too "basic" for my taste. He had a laugh with the crowd plugging his CD which I will probably buy. Paul finished at about 8.30 and then there was a break before Chris and the band came on. The hall was about 80% full I think, with just a small area to each side of the stage that was empty. They might not even sell tickets for these seats because the view would be very poor.
At 8.45 the lights dimmed, the stage backdrop was uncovered and Chris and the band came on stage. The concert started with the slide intro to "Cant wait for love" and from that point on we were treated to an awesome "full throttle" display of singing and guitar mastery. The songs were played without a pause between, and without any talking. Although I had heard the songs live before, it was still a treat to see and hear them again. The two new songs were great, especially electric guitar which I hadn't heard live before. Josephine was played getting faster towards the end which added a little twist to it. "Stainsby Girls" was a treat (as on the video) with Chris "shooting" the audience with his guitar and fooling around. All too soon it was the encore of "On The beach" and "Lets dance" which had the audience dancing in front of the stage more than I have seen before. When Chris did his "never too old to dance" bit on "lets dance", the spotlight went round the hall picking out those who were standing and dancing. The applause and foot stamping went on for ages after they left the stage until the lights came on and with them the sad realisation that it was over. But what a performance, I'm so glad we decided to go.
Anyone who didn't know about Chris wouldn't guess for a minute what he's been through and the medical problems he has. He gave it his all and a fit healthy person would have struggled to keep up with him on stage. I came out wondering yet again, why he isnt more popular, there was more talent and skill shown on that stage in 1.5 hours than you would see in a whole years worth of chart music.
One annoyance, nothing to do with Chris or the band and I'm not sure if this happens in other countries but during the last song, some people got up to leave. I have noticed this before and cannot understand why you would want to do it. Is queueing for the exit really such a hardship? Very strange.
A lot of people were taking pictures and recording on phones, you could see all the screens as you looked over the audience but I didnt see anyone being told off. I tried to video "Stony Road" which has particular significance to me but I missed the start, didnt realise that you have to zoom before recording and then pressed stop accidentaly! So I made a complete hash of it
but was able to salvage the audio track.
Regards,
Kev.