I had wanted to see this band as soon as I read about them last year and when they came to Cardiff that was an opportunity not to be missed. First on was Mcnally Waters with Larry McNally on guitar and vocals and Harry Waters (yes - son of Roger) on keyboards plus a rhythm section of bass and drums. They were very good, an interesting Southern Rock/Blues guitar, a New Orleans style keyboards and an overall sound that was part Deep South and part New Orleans. The songs were good as well and perhaps the only thing that wasn't quite there was the vocals of Larry. They played a short (25 mins) set) and then it was SoS.
The line up was Nick Mason on drums (obvi), Gary Kemp guitar and vocals (ex Spandau Ballet), Lee Harris guitar (ex Blockheads) Guy Pratt Bass (ex Pink Floyd/Roger Mason/David Gilmour collaborator) and Dom Beken (Keyboards and stuff).
The first thing to say is that, as I hoped, this did not feel or sound like a tribute band, although with Nick Mason on drums it could not be called that anyway. It sounded like a new slant on some fascinating and excellent songs from a particular era that is pretty much a unique legacy of the original Floyd. In doing early Floyd songs the band also achieved a couple of things - restoring a mainly lost legacy (live at least) and appropriately reminding us of the nature of the sound mix of that band at that time. Drum driven to a greater extent than most music, bass telling the melody often and guitar given the freedom to do whatever along with the synthesised and recorded sounds that are also distinctive of Floyd. The guitarists were outstanding. Lee Harris was one of the most confident guitarists I have seen, hitting complex and precise licks without missing a beat and creating a perfect sound to overlay on top of the rhythm section. This was perfectly demonstrated during the first surprise track of the night for me 'Fearless' from Meddle. He also delved into a few Gilmour like (without being derivative) solos when the song required it. Gary Kemp was a great surprise to me as someone who has never been a Spandau Ballet fan. He was fairly restrained early on and was never showy but as the gig went on his guitar was increasingly prominent and increasingly very good. Guy Pratt on bass was immediately a perfect fit and this is not surprising given his history with the band and its former members.
The gig began with a couple of old classics 'Interstellar Overdrive' and 'Astromini Domini' and with some Floyd-like videos and lights going on of course. After a few more vintage songs and the aforementioned 'fearless' (which is still going round in my head) it went up a level with a rousing version of 'Arnold Layne' with Gary on vocals. Shortly after came one of the highlights of the night, a long version of 'If' which had some 'Atom Heart Mother' in the middle. there was then some stellar guitar playing from Gary and Lee on the next couple of tracks and not long after the long-awaited 'Set the Controls'. This was especially resonant for me as that was the amazing highlight of my very first Floyd gig in '68. Another big memory track was on shortly after, 'See Emily Play' and then to my surprise 'One of these days' from my favourite Floyd album 'Meddle'. This of course perfectly suited the band and Guy and the two lead guitarists were perfect on it. The encore started with a brilliant version of 'Saucerful of Secrets' (of course) and then 'Point me at the sky' finished the evening off.
Brilliant, just brilliant.
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