Just saw Wishbone Ash last night, they played at this theater in a small town 30 minutes away from me. I must have been one of three guys under 25 there, it was full of prog rock dinosaurs. It was excellent. It was the Andy Powell version, and they did two sets.
The first set was Argus in it's entirety and the second set was bits and pieces from older and new albums. They had this ancient second guitarist from Finland that just nailed the Turner solos, with some very tasty embellishments and Andy still looks and sounds great despite his 65 years of age! He can't hit the high notes in Phoenix (20 minute encore song) but all the stuff in Argus he killed, and the rest of the band did some fantastic backing vocals.
Highlights were pretty much all of Argus but I think "Warrior" was performed the best which is great because that's my personal favorite. They extended the ending and had a few little embellishments on the solos without rewriting the song, awesome stuff. The songs in the second set were all played very well, but with the exception of "Phoenix" and "Surface To Air" (from the Front Page News of '76) they didn't quite capture the magic of Argus. Great harmony guitars, definitely a guitarists' band. However the drummer and bassist were no slouches and got their own solo breaks here and there.
I would have liked to hear a few more tunes from the S/T album such was "Errors of my Way" and also the song "Number the Brave" from '81 but you can't complain much when you're getting all of Argus. The band does a few tricks with synchronized movements during certain songs which I'm a fan of, and it kept the energy up in the theater hall environment. During intermission the band took 20 minutes to sign autographs and the merch booth and do some photos. Wish I'd thought to bring my Argus LP. I got them to sign my event program though, it's hanging on the wall now.
Great gig, wasn't sure what to expect but I'm glad to have seen some rock and roll history on one of their three Canadian dates. Jesus, Argus turned 40 last year! Crazy stuff. If you get the chance to catch them, do yourself a favor before Andy can't hit the road anymore.
The first set was Argus in it's entirety and the second set was bits and pieces from older and new albums. They had this ancient second guitarist from Finland that just nailed the Turner solos, with some very tasty embellishments and Andy still looks and sounds great despite his 65 years of age! He can't hit the high notes in Phoenix (20 minute encore song) but all the stuff in Argus he killed, and the rest of the band did some fantastic backing vocals.
Highlights were pretty much all of Argus but I think "Warrior" was performed the best which is great because that's my personal favorite. They extended the ending and had a few little embellishments on the solos without rewriting the song, awesome stuff. The songs in the second set were all played very well, but with the exception of "Phoenix" and "Surface To Air" (from the Front Page News of '76) they didn't quite capture the magic of Argus. Great harmony guitars, definitely a guitarists' band. However the drummer and bassist were no slouches and got their own solo breaks here and there.
I would have liked to hear a few more tunes from the S/T album such was "Errors of my Way" and also the song "Number the Brave" from '81 but you can't complain much when you're getting all of Argus. The band does a few tricks with synchronized movements during certain songs which I'm a fan of, and it kept the energy up in the theater hall environment. During intermission the band took 20 minutes to sign autographs and the merch booth and do some photos. Wish I'd thought to bring my Argus LP. I got them to sign my event program though, it's hanging on the wall now.
Great gig, wasn't sure what to expect but I'm glad to have seen some rock and roll history on one of their three Canadian dates. Jesus, Argus turned 40 last year! Crazy stuff. If you get the chance to catch them, do yourself a favor before Andy can't hit the road anymore.
