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  #1  
Old 02-09-2003, 07:26 PM
madformac madformac is offline
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Default PGSG Gig review 9th Feb 2003

Hello all

I attended tonight's Splinter Group gig at the Buxton Opera House, Buxton, UK. And so for Mario, ChiliD and all you Greeny fans, here is a review of the gig, the set list and a few bits of info from the sixth gig of the Reaching The Cold 100 UK tour.

First off I got chatting to Tony Henderson the tour merchandising manager. Anybody that missed out first time will be glad to know that the "Blues Don't Change" CD is available to buy at the European gigs again this time around. Also on sale were new tour programmes and PGSG T-shirts.

The show opens this time around with an acoustic set which lasts about half an hour, followed by an interval before the electric set begins. So here is the set list for the Buxton gig, 9th February 2003.

Acoustic set :-

Hitch Hiking Woman
Sweet Home Chicago
Dead Shrimps Blues
Can You Tell Me Why
Little Queen Of Spades
Hell Hound On My Trail
Albatross

Interval

Electric set :-

I Believe My Time Ain't Long
Running After You
Little Red Rooster
Nothing Gonna Change (new)
Shadow At My Door
Must Be A Fool (new)
The Stumble
Cool Down (new)
Man Of The World (instrumental)
Dangerous Man (new)
Need Your Love So Bad
Real World
The Green Manalishi

Encore :-

Black Magic Woman

Ok, first off the acoustic set. Nigel was a little poorly with a cold tonight (good old British winters!) and had to have the odd brandy to keep his voice loose (which was fine actually). Peter seemed a little distant during the acoustic set.

The band were sat down for this part of the show and Peter seemed to drift in and out during the set, I was sat in the front row, to the left of Peter and occasionally during the night he would look me in the eye and give me that cheeky, naughty schoolboy grin, I would reply with a beaming smile which seemed to please him a little.

The acoustic set finished with a nice version of Albatross, which of course pleased the crowd. There was then a 15 minute interval before the electric set kicked off.

Peter seemed to come alive during this section of the show which started with I Believe My Time Ain't Long. Peter played slide guitar and it was very very good, he really is at the top of his game now and would push Jeremy Spencer with performances like this. Next up was Running After You from "Time Traders". Nicely done with an extended harmonica driven instrumental from Peter towards the end.
Nigel then sung Little Red Rooster from the "Blues Don't Change" CD and then the first new song of the night from the "Reaching The Cold 100" album. This track was Nothing Gonna Change by Nigel, a song based around the blues of having to pay for lawyers even though you are an innocent man. (*Update* Having now heard the album, they were actually talking about Legal Fee Blues after all! Not Nothing Gonna Change )

It was a good full sounding track, very PGSG style in sound and will please the fans when the album comes out.

Nigel continued with Shadow At My Door and then Peter sung the new track by Peter Stroud called Must Be A Fool with the most awesome Wah Wah guitar I have ever heard live, this is one I really am looking forward to when the album hits the shelves.

Peter then continued with the Freddie King classic The Stumble, Peter again surprising me with his fluid hand movement, very slick.

Next up the highlight of the night for me. Nigel sung his new song Cool Down. This could seriously challenge Real World as my favorite Splinter Group song. It was powerfully played and all the guys seemed to love this one. This could easily be a single release and should get some good airplay. ChiliD, if you like Real World I think you will totally be blown away by this one, lovely guitar work from both Peter and Nigel as well.

Next up came Man Of The World to a rousing applause. Instrumental, as it always is now but very emotional as usual.

Next up was another new one, Dangerous Man. Peter seemed to enjoy playing this one and that cheeky grin appeared every time he sung "I'm A Dangerous Man". Again very good and a solid tune.

They finished the electric set with a reworked version of Need Your Love So Bad, then Real World with an extended guitar based ending with Peter on slide and wah duties again and Nigel screaming notes from his Fender Showmaster guitar. Excellent.

Last up was The Green Manalishi, again played with power and finished with some haunting guitar feedback from Nigel.

They came back on for the encore which was Black Magic Woman. This song descended into a fabulous jam which must of lasted at least 25 minutes and the sight of Peter and Nigel facing each other and playng off each other brings back memories of Peter and Danny Kirwan trading licks. Peter also tipped his hat to Carlos Santana with a little latin flavoured solo mid way though. Again a very nice moment and again I wonder how this man has gotten to this point from the mental abyss he was in.

After the gig I got the OK to go backstage and collect Peter's setlist notes which I had signed by all the guys post gig, along with my Destiny Road cover this time. The foyer of the Opera House was a frenzy after the show. I had a quick word with Roger Cotton, Larry Tolfree and Nigel, who remembered me from last time I was at a PGSG gig (I bought him a couple of pints of Guinness back then) and I just thanked Peter and shook his hand this time. Four nights earlier a rather frenzied female fan had virtually assaulted Peter to get him to sign her back (which she wanted to have tattooed over later according to one of the roadies) This must have startled Peter and I could see he was a bit nervous so I didn't bombard him with questions this time!

For those of you interested the limited editon 4 track CD bundled with the first batch of copies of the new album will contain PGSG "live" studio versions of Black Magic Woman, It Takes Time, The Green Manalishi and an acoustic Albatross.

All in all a good night. Apparently the first couple of nights were a bit loose, with the guys finding their feet with the new set list but they seemed in full flow tonight and anybody going to see them later in the tour will be in for a treat.

They just keep getting better and better and going by these new songs I think this could be the strongest album yet.



Last edited by madformac; 02-14-2003 at 09:13 AM..
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  #2  
Old 02-09-2003, 09:00 PM
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seteca seteca is offline
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Sounds like you had pretty amazing time!!

So, you got them to sign the setlist notes, you lucky £$!%&!!!!!!!

Did you ask any of them why they won't play "Oh Well".....???

I remember PG drifting in and out last year, I thought maybe he'd get over it by now, but obviously not.

Thanks for the great review dude, sounds like it was an awesome show. I'm just (very) disappointed that they still aren't playing "Oh Well" (at least not regularly) in their gigs. I hope that they play it on the 24th, but I won't hold my breath.


Last edited by seteca; 02-09-2003 at 09:07 PM..
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Old 02-09-2003, 10:03 PM
madformac madformac is offline
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Default Oh Well

Seteca,

I didn't get time to ask about Oh Well although it was on my mind. It was mega frantic after the gig.

Last time there were about 8 or 10 of us at the end and I had a good long chat with Nigel and Peter. This time there just wasn't time and I had to fight to get to them just for a few signatures. Much bigger venue this time, Jools Holland played there earlier this week with his band as well.


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Old 02-10-2003, 11:36 AM
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chiliD chiliD is offline
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Way cool!! Justin, it must've made you feel good to have Nigel remember you!! You shook Peter's hand?? Was he at all hesitant about doing that? He was pretty adamant about not shaking ANYONE'S hand when he was here in CA last May.

I think that Peter's "here one minute, miles away the next" is a permanent residual of the things he's gone through. After watching "The Osbournes", Peter seems 100x's more lucid than Ozzy does for the most part. To hear that they're new material is the "best yet" is exicitng! The step up from Destiny Road to Time Traders was fantastic, and to think they've gone ANOTHER step up, is awesome (how could they get better than Time Traders???)

That said: I kind of have mixed emotions at reading the set list. In one way, I'm glad that the number of old Fleetwood Mac songs are diminishing, showing that 1) they feel their own material stands up and 2) their own material is being received well; but at the same time, it is sad that the same FMac tunes are being played tour after tour. Granted "Green Manalishi" & "BMW" are at the point of being required in the set, I would like to see them rotate in some other ones every so often, as well. Like the aforementioned "Oh Well", or "Before The Beginning", or "Stop Messin' Round", or "I Loved Another Woman", or "World Keep On Turning", etc. Just shake it up a bit...they've been playing "GM" & "BMW" since the inception of the PGSG. Plus, I would like to see/hear them incorporate some of Peter's 1977-81 material, as well. "One Woman Love", "Little Dreamer", "Crying Won't Get You Back", Peter's version of "Born Under A Bad Sign", "In The Skies", "Just For You", "Apostle", etc.

While I'm on a roll: it's just fantastic that Peter & Nigel both have deep roots in Robert Johnson's blues, but c'mon enough is enough...they've covered everything Robert ever recorded, they've included WAY more in their live set than necessary (5 of the 7 acoustic set tunes are RJ's)...there's a helluva lot more material to draw from than their overkill of Robert Johnson. The Blues Don't Change album is proof of that.

Ok, that's my rant...now after all that, my bottom line is LONG LIVE PETER GREEN & THE PGSG!!!!. Whatever they feel like doing is just FINE with me!! (and the more they play in the states, and southern California in particular, the better!)
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Old 02-10-2003, 01:33 PM
Doctor Brown Doctor Brown is offline
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Thanks madformac!

Very nicely done.

Peter wouldn't shake hands here either.


Doc

Last edited by Doctor Brown; 02-10-2003 at 01:37 PM..
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Old 02-10-2003, 02:26 PM
madformac madformac is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by chiliD
Way cool!! You shook Peter's hand?? Was he at all hesitant about doing that? He was pretty adamant about not shaking ANYONE'S hand when he was here in CA last May.
Chili, I didn't think Peter would ever shake my hand. Last time I saw him, when I asked him he politely said no and that it is something he doesn't do, not since long ago, before his "problems"

This time, while I was there anyway, he only shook hands with two of us, out of about 200 at the foyer entrance, he did react to me a little, with hestitancy but he did look at me quite a few times during the gig and I always smiled back, maybe it disturbed him, maybe not, he did grin back a few times but it certainly got his attention! The thing that struck me was firstly was how gentle he was, hardly any pressure in his handshake. Secondly just how soft his hands were, I mean REALLY soft, almost like a child's handshake.

I am glad I was there, to shake hands with a legend.

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Old 02-10-2003, 02:33 PM
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I wonder what legalities the PGSG or Nigel in particular has gone through recently??

After your mentioning that "Nothing Gonna Change" is about lawyers, I notice in the other thread, the tracklist of the new album lists a song called "Legal Fee Blues"...I wonder what other tunes have a "litigation" theme???
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Old 02-10-2003, 02:43 PM
madformac madformac is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by chiliD
I wonder what legalities the PGSG or Nigel in particular has gone through recently??
I don't know.

What I do know, because I was talking to one of the PGSG promotion team, that they are overseeing certain aspects of the band and making a few decisions because the band do seem to make decisions slowly, but the band basically manage themselves now and I was pretty much told that Nigel is really taking on a major role within the band behind the scenes.

Roger Cotton announced the "Nothing Gonna Change"song and said Nigel had been through a few situations and he wrote the song about the frustration of being an innocent man, yet having to pay all the legal costs involved. Interesting.

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Old 02-10-2003, 02:57 PM
Blue Horizon Blue Horizon is offline
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Thanks Madformac for the review. Can not wait now till the 23rd when they come to Weston-Super-Mare. Really looking forward to the gig on the eve of the new cd release, which sounds like it might just be the best so far from Peter's Splinter Group.
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Old 02-24-2003, 03:10 PM
Blue Horizon Blue Horizon is offline
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Just got home today after work to find "Reaching the cold 100" had been delivered in the post from those nice people at Amazon. I will have some supper before playing the new cd (can't wait!!).
I saw Peter and the Splinter Group last night at Weston-Super-Mare.
Verdict- Peter and the band played the best gig that I have seen since the band have been formed. Managed to say Hi to Peter and Roger after the gig and they seemed pretty pleased at the response they got from the audience. Highlights of the show were the six old FM numbers, including "Albatross", (acoustic version) "Black Magic Woman" and "Green Manalishi" plus the numbers from the new cd.
A night I will remember for a long long time.
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