Set list
The King Will Come, You See Red, Growing up, Driving a Wedge, Persephone, The way of the World, Engine Overheat, Hard Times, Phoenix

Encores
Jailbait, Blowin' Free

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, a spotty faced, long haired teenager went to his first Wishbone Ash gig. Well actually it was 35 years ago in Newcastle Upon Tyne England, but it seems like eons have passed since that first time.

In the intervening years I’ve seen the band many times at venues from large festivals right down to small intimate clubs, and in many guises. In fact for a four piece outfit, I can’t think of many bands that have had more personnel changes than these guys.

The current line-up of founder member Andy Powell (vocals and lead), Bob Skeat (vocals and bass), Muddy Manninen (vocals and lead) and Joe Crabtree (drums), have now been together for over 2 years (Crabtree being the newest member), and in my opinion, are one of the best incarnations of the band since it’s inception in 1969. 

This year’s support band were The Hamsters, a 3 piece blues band from Essex. I checked out their website before the gig to find they play anything from their own material to ZZ Top and Hendrix covers. Plus they had glowing references from the likes of John Mayall, Walter Trout, Kerrang magazine and many more, so I was interested to hear what they sounded like.

Not the youngest band I’ve ever seen I have to admit, in fact lead guitarist and singer Snail's-Pace Slim did mention at one point the band had an accumulative age of well over 160!! However it didn’t stop them putting in a very polished, energetic performance. They included Hendrix classics ‘Voodoo Chile’ and ‘All along The Watchtower’, plus a great ‘Hendrixesque’ style version of ‘Star Spangled Banner’. They finished off with ZZ Top’s ‘Sharp Dressed Man’, during which Snail's-Pace swapped his guitar with bassist Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist, and then with drummer Rev Otis Elevator, so that each member ended up playing a different instrument from the one which they started with. An interesting and novel way to complete the set. A decent support and I’d certainly go see them again if they were in the area. 

So to the main event. It was noticeable when entering the venue, that Wishbone had embraced 21^st century technology on stage for this tour, with the introduction of two video screens. These were immediately put into use, introducing each member of the band on to the stage, to the opening riffs of ‘The King Will Come’.  After ‘You See Red’ came two songs from the 2007 album ‘Power of Eternity’, ‘Growing Up’ and ‘Driving a Wedge’. A little bit of fun during ‘Growing Up’ as the video screens gave a slideshow of, how can I put this, some interesting old photographs of the band members during their informative years. Great haircuts and clothes guys!!!!

We were then treated to as Mr Powell put it, ‘the oldies which we know you’ve come to hear’. ‘Sometime World’ from their best known album ‘Argus’, ‘Way of the World’, and the hauntingly melodic ‘Persephone’ during which both Powell and Manninen demonstrate the essence of the Wishbone Ash twin lead philosophy.

‘Phoenix’ completed the main set. This song is to Wishbone Ash as say ‘Freebird’ is to Lynyrd Skynyrd or ‘Stairway to Heaven’ is to Zeppelin, in that it gives the guitarists freedom to express themselves in long expansive solos. However, tonight they were totally upstaged by what can only be described as master class of drumming by Joe Crabtree. When he first joined the band he was quite reserved, but in the past two years has developed beyond expectations, and has in my opinion given the band fresh energy and drive.

The evening was completed with encores of ‘Jailbait’ and ‘Blowin Free’, which to the reviewer’s delight was played in its original format without the inclusion of ‘Bad Weather Blues’ mid song.

The only criticism of the night was nothing to do with the band, but the venue’s sound and lighting system. The sound at times was overly loud, and the lighting extremely poor. At one point the band were almost playing in complete darkness, with the overhead spots either not working or unused. 

Wishbone Ash as a band, is now in its 40^th year, and continues to tour year in year out without showing any signs of stopping. I would thoroughly recommend checking them out if they are in your area, you won’t be disappointed.

Tour dates can be found at http://www.wishboneash.com/tours.asp