I have just got back from seeing 21st Century Schizoid Band and thought they
did very well for a band on their first outing. They were all obviously
nervous particularly the Giles brothers but they managed to navigate their
way through 'Pictures of a City' as an opening number without stumbling (as
Jakko Jakszyk said: "we thought we would start with an easy one!") and did
justice to ITCOTCK, I Talk to the Wind and Cat Food.
The surprisingly strong numbers were Formentera Lady and Ladies of the Road
which became quite hypnotic as they progressed or that might have been the
passive smoking of herbal cigarettes kicking in.
JJ did a very good job of hiding Robert Fripp's absence but I do hope he
turns off the auto pan on his guitar in time for the Milton Keynes concert
which I will also be at.
The absence of Mellotron was more obvious. At the beginning of the concert
someone in the crowd yelled "where's the Mellotron?" to which JJ replied "do
you know how heavy those f∗∗∗ are? we have it hidden in little boxes around
the stage" but I think he may have regretted that later because Mel Collins
managed to lose his string patch before one number started prompting Ian
McDonald to jog across the stage and fix it and, excrutiatingly, Ian
McDonald's synth stopped working near the end of Epitaph and the song had to
be brought grindingly to a halt. It was fortunate that the final song 21st
Century Schizoid Man relied on the twin saxes of Ian Macdonald and Mel
Collins to power it along.
This is your roving lurker signing off.
Tim Griffiths M400 # 1241