Event Reviews

As ever, not too high a proportion of the crowd was in the auditorium to hear the opening act, on this occasion a young Scottish singer named David Bova, who performed an acoustic set of original songs, accompanied only by his own guitar and a drummer. He had a good, strong voice, although this reviewer struggled at times to make out some of the lyrics. The songs were all very earnest and introspective, after the fashion of a David Gray, albeit not quite so melancholy. Overall, an interesting set from an artist with some potential.

After an interval of 35-40 minutes, The Waterboys were announced, and took to the stage to a very enthusiastic welcome. Of course, the line-up of the band has changed many times over the years, but for the current tour it consists of Mike Scott on vocals and guitars (acoustic and electric), Steve Wickham on violin, Richard Naiff on keyboards and flute, Mark Smith on bass, and a new drummer in the form of Damon Wilson from Australia. It soon became apparent that the standard of musicianship from this quintet was going to be of an extremely high order, and so it proved as the night went on.

When, about 45 minutes into The Waterboys’ set, they launched into their perennial classic “The Whole Of The Moon”, it seemed as though they were shortly going to be wrapping up the night’s proceedings, and leaving the audience feeling short-changed, but this proved to be far from the case, as they in fact continued playing till almost 11 o’clock!

Further classics from the “This Is The Sea” album were “Medicine Bow” and “The Pan Within”, which received lengthy arrangements, giving the musicians the opportunity to really demonstrate their abilities, and both were tremendously well-received in the hall. The audience, who had been very enthusiastic throughout, in fact were almost all on their feet for most of the last half dozen numbers, only sitting when Mike Scott surprisingly performed a slow Jacques Brel song “My Death”, accompanied only by Richard Naiff on the keyboards – another highlight of a varied set.

Eventually, the members of the crowd who had been calling out for “Fisherman’s Blues”, at regular intervals throughout the last hour, got their wish, as this number closed the much-deserved second encore and thus completed the show, sending the audience home happy, and this reviewer thoroughly impressed.