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--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, tronbros <tronbros@...> wrote:
>
> Just terrible! JB hated too. Whatever possessed them to revisit one of their most popular albums? The string sounds and piano setting are from 80's synth and don't belong. And Dave has become a caricature of himself vocally.
>
> M
>
> mellotronics.co.uk
I saw The Strawbs at the Queens Hall, Edinburgh on 4th November last year. Apparently, it was a re-arranged gig, the band having cancelled a number earlier in the year. I'd never seen the Strawbs in their heyday (before "Lay Down" and "Part of the [bloody] Union"), so I was foolishly expecting to be something othey would have done 40 years ago - silly sod that I am. The Queens Hall isn't a particularly good venue - it is badly laid out and the acoustics aren't great. At the time, they had a John Young as keyboardist, but I couldn't see what gear he had. I don't know what the opening number was, but the 2nd one was "Grave New World". It was dreadful. Oh, it was played OK, but there wasn't one molecule of passion. I am of the opinion that the band were simply going through the motions, as though they wanted to be somewhere else. After GNW, they performed the "Hero & Heroine" album in its entirety, and it was dire! It would have been better if they did bits 'n' pieces from their full repertoire, from (say) "...Witchwood" to the present. I would have loved to have heard "The Hangman and the Papist" and "Sheep". I concur with Martin about Cousins not being what he was - the lack of a beard I find odd, having rarely seen pictures of him without one. I reckon he should stop touring and lay The Strawbs to rest and simply have them as a tick on his C.V.
I personally prefer "From the Witchwood" and "Grave New World", particularly "Benedictus", the 3rd track (whatever it's titled) and the title track are magnificent, with the tron to the fore in all 3.