PGSG Gig review 9th Feb 2003

[madformac]

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.