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You bet your
sweet bippie they weren't ! Four of the original band members,
Andy Davis (ace guitar, occasional keyboards & vocals), James
Warren (guitar & vocals), James "Crun" Walters (bass), and
Mutter Slater (flute, harmonica & vocals), were joined by five
more musicians on drums, guitar, keyboards, & two lovely lady
violinists/backing vocalists. All nine just about managed to
squeeze onto the small stage at the Polish Club, and proceeded
to romp through the Stackridge back catalogue with more than a
little love & devotion.
They were clearly enjoying themselves, and so were the audience.
Being a bit of a fan, I wondered what others thought of them.
Bumped into a friend, Duncan, who had never seen them before (a
Stackridge virgin), and he was loving the show. What he really
liked was the feeling that you just didn't know what was coming
next, and the musicianship was top class. The nearest he could
liken them to was The Super Furry Animals; but Stackridge are a
truly unique, very English band, unlike any other. A multitude
of influences, yes, and The Beatles clearly had an impact on
their song writing; but there's nothing wrong with that.
The set included such memorable
songs as Syracuse The Elephant, Lummy Days, Volunteer, The
Galloping Gaucho, Dora The Female Explorer, Do The Stanley. and
the wonderful Fish In A Glass. Mostly written by Andy Davis &
James Warren, who later went on to form The Korgis in the late
70's, after the original Stackridge broke up. Inevitably they
played the two best known timeless Korgis tracks, which have
been covered by several well known artists, Rod Stewart, Beck &
the like - If I Had You, and Everybody's Got To Learn Something,
which was a worldwide hit for them (amusingly introduced as
James Warren's pension fund song). They even included the first
song ever played at the first ever Glastonbury Festival back in
Sept 1970, where they were on stage twice over the weekend, once
at the beginning and once at the end. They can therefore claim
to have played the first note & the last note at the first
Glastonbury Festival. Cool eh ! No dustbin lids in sight, thank
goodness, otherwise they might have inflicted "Let There Be
Lids" on us (much loved by some Stackridge aficionados. A great
night.
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