It’s been a while but I only got back from my trip away late last night, so here is my review of the Leeds show. First of all I thought it was a very nice venue, apparently only about 4 years old, not too large and quite steeply raked seating behind the floor section, making the place appear smaller than it probably was. I though it sounded great too although other AMITers said they experienced some echo from their seats. Sadly tight airport-like security now.
Once inside I found my seat which was pretty nice and right at the aisle (more on that later). Nice start with WAM and you can usually tell from the start how Mark is playing that day - I knew he was in form. In Leeds his playing was impeccable. He was very intense and on StP especially he was playing some really great stuff. One little mistake on R&J outro solo was the only minor error of the night that probably most people didn’t notice. Val and I noticed a minor lyrics change on the song. Really nice Speedway which is better played with fewer notes as per this tour (brassies have been turned down in the mix as he is more reassured in his playing).
At the end most people in front of and around me stayed seated. The band walk off the stage, so being at the aisle I decide to go for it. I’m there for about 10-20 seconds and start thinking there’s nobody next to me… I turn around to find out I’m the only one down the front! Not to fear though because a further 10-20 seconds after that Ingrid came to my rescue, shortly followed by Val and Mr Val. Phew! So close when he played the iconic MFN and the beautiful Piper is wasted with the brassies. Don't like GH on the Gibson; the build-up is difficult to play well with it's thicker sound. Basically, it's a Strat song.
I though his playing in Leeds was excellent and he hasn’t played so well in years. The show does drag in the middle to be honest, although not so badly as it does in live streams or recordings. The show does feel incomplete without a TR song though and it was proved yet again that Speedway is not a showstopper no matter how well played it is.
Post show a quick chat outside with some wonderful old friends (and new too), some I see quite often, some only tour time and others I would see the following night in Newcastle. So we parted outside the venue, the fuddy-duddies back to their hotels while I took Ingrid to a nightclub but she took me to a pub instead!
