I frequently view this forum although I don’t have much spare time to contribute with 2 young kids & life at 100 mph, but I felt I had to come on and submit a quick review of last night’s gig.
Wow, I’m struggling for superlatives that justify quite how exceptional the band were last night. I have been to every single solo tour of Mark’s from STP right up to now and he simply gets better and better every time I see him. A bunch of musicians who are not only all exceptional within their own rights but clearly get along brilliantly off-stage which leads to a great chemistry on it. Mark’s singing was borderline whispering and hushed for much of the set but in no way does this detract from the performance, in fact I think it just switches the emphasis onto the sublime playing of himself & the rest of the band.
Last night was the first live music gig I took my 8 year old son to. He’s just started learning the guitar in school and loves listening to Mark whenever I put him on in the car, but with it being an 8:30 start and 2 hrs long I did worry about him losing his attention. However I need not have worried, he was transfixed from start to finish (helped by MK playing his 2 favourite songs to begin with in Why Aye Man and Corned Beef City) We were 5 rows from the front & during WAM Mark was surveying the audience and noticed my son (who was by far the youngest audience member I saw all night), he glanced over his glasses and paused to look at him before giving us the most wonderful approving smile. It was a magical moment for me & I definitely didn’t imagine it. Corned Beef City was followed by the best performance I have ever heard of Romeo & Juliet. Understated, hushed, and quite magical, with Mark whispering at times as we were all captivated. Even this cynical 38 year old man can’t deny I was welling up at this point, it all just got a bit much in that moment, having my son there too.
And on Mark went, from one magical song to the next. His ‘farewell speech’ wasn’t quite so ‘farewell’, more along the lines of ‘I did consider retiring but I just love performing too much so I think i’ll carry on until I drop.’ It would be such a shame if he did decide to call it a day, in no way does his playing reflect his ageing, his band gets better ever time I see it, the audience is enthralled and he gives such joy to so many people. If he enjoys it as much as he says then why quit now?
