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There was a warm welcome for Gilbert in Zurich tonight for his first live show in Switzerland for nearly 34 years.
Photos by Monika Wegener
There are a couple of changes in the personnel on stage since the 2007 UK Tour. On drums and percussion we now have Martin Ditcham. Martin comes with a highly impressive CV, having played in the Mary Black Band and been a session drummer with U2, Rolling Stones, Diana Ross, Elton John, Sade and was recently on tour with Chris Rea. Nick Scott on the bass has recorded or performed with artists such as Tom Jones, Sinead O'Connor, Van Morrison and Brian Kennedy. Niamh McNally is the new girl on backing vocals. Niamh hails from Northern Ireland and is a singer-songwriter in her own right who is currently working on her soon to be released album.
For the purpose of this report the personnel on stage were: String Quartet: Laura Stanford [violin], Eleanor Stanford [violin], Amy Stanford [viola] and Jessica Cox [cello]. Band: Martin Ditcham [drums + percussion], Bill Shanley [guitars] and Nick Scott [bass]. Backing Vocals: Charlotte James and Niamh McNally. Saxophone, Flute & Harmonica: Julian Webster Greaves. Keyboard and Accordion: Mick Parker.
Because of a noise curfew in the area of tonight's venue, the sound check was delayed until 5pm. This coupled with the fact that this was the first night of the tour added to the pressure on the sound technicians Kevin and Francis. Because each venue is different in size and structure, it has to be assessed individually for acoustics etc. An empty room sounds different to a room with an audience, where the sound is absorbed by the crowd. So despite meticulously adjusting the settings during the sound check, the real test for the technicians is during the first couple of numbers when adjustments are made to allow for the ambient changes.
Gilbert was really looking forward to tonight's performance and despite not having played in Switzerland since September 1974, there was a good turn-out for tonight's show. Gilbert arrived on stage at 8:15pm unannounced.
TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF MY TOE - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] + String Quartet Usually Gilbert plays the first three songs before addressing the audience and tonight is no different.
A PROPER FOOL - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
MY PLACE OR YOURS - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] Gilbert said "Danke, guten abend, it's nice to see you here because it's over 30 years since I was here. I expected three people to turn up and I expected to be asking them to come to the front, so thank you."
NOTHING RHYMED - [From the album "HIMSELF"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet + Nick [Bass] + Julian [Flute] Played to the backdrop of a video showing Gilbert in the 70s.
OUT OF THE QUESTION - [From the album "BACK TO FRONT"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Flute] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] The applause that was given to "Nothing Rhymed" continued through "Out Of The Question" as the audience clapped in time. "You may think that because there are so many women on stage, that it's because they like my music, no...they're here for the Swiss chocolate!" Gilbert quipped. [Audience laughter]. This is an album track from an album that was released [covering his mouth] years ago. [Audience laughter]. It was never a single but is a well liked song.
MISS MY LOVE TODAY - [From the album "SOUTHPAW"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Mick [Keyboard] As always Gilbert spotlights Mick Parker after this song for his excellent accompaniment. Gilbert added, "This is the first night of the tour and I like to try things out. Let's do "Know What You're Right"". This threw everybody into confusion, as number seven on the set list is normally a choice of "Taking Sides" or "One Door Closes". But they coped.
KNOW WHAT, YOU'RE RIGHT - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet "I've toured consistently since 1990. Why I haven't been here?" Gilbert asked himself aloud. "You never asked" he joked answering his own question.
WE WILL - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Bill [guitar] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] In a slight change to the usual performance of "We Will", I see Bill Shanley is on stage playing accompaniment. Wild cheers at the end of the song, for which Gilbert answered "Danke". "One of my very first songs was the next one. People talk about "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and ask what was John Lennon on when he wrote it. Well I wrote: Now down among the Partridge trees Lives a "Don" who loves his knees So much so he's framed them in a jar And if by chance one should escape Then "to put on" must in it's place Eat half a pound of shredded tar
What was I on when I wrote that. I was just a mixed up kid. This features Julian on voices." Gilbert said.
MR. MOODY'S GARDEN - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Mick [Accordion] + Julian [Voices] The voice Julian used in saying "At Great Expense" caused Gilbert to giggle. After the song Gilbert answered his own earlier question by saying "I was on tea and toast and orange juice....too well brought up."
ONE DOOR CLOSES - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet Straight into the next song with a 2-3-4 count.
I'M IN LOVE WITH LOVE AGAIN - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet
SOMETIMES - [From the album "SOUNDS OF THE LOOP"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Julian [Flute] "Long intro" Gilbert told us to explain his delay in singing. Afterwards Gilbert told us "I like playing that song, even though we have crowd here, it's very intimate when played live as opposed to recording it in the studio when it is very clinical. Live performances are getting more popular than records.
"I was always reluctant to play the next song because of the criticism I received from music critics who'd say 'You want to be taken seriously as a song writer and yet you wrote that song!' Anyway it's a bit of fun and I started doing it recently and it has been popular."
OOH-WAKKA-DOO-WAKKA-DAY - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Flute] A cartoon featuring Gilbert is played on the screen at the back of the stage during the song. It has a bit of a 'Pink Panther' [70s cartoon] feel to it. The cartoon was created by US fan Kurt Neilson. The video started but because Gilbert had a false start because he forgot to detune the keyboard, it meant that the song and video were played out of sync.
CLAIR - [From the album "BACK TO FRONT"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Harmonica] This song ended the first half. A compilation of footage and photographs of Gilbert and Clair was shown as Gilbert sang this number one hit.
Photo by Monika Wegener
STICK IN THE MUD - [From the album "FROBISHER DRIVE / IN THE KEY OF G"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] With the band on stage now, this song allowed a rocking start to the second half of the show and included a rousing saxophone solo from Julian.
CAN'T GET YOU TO LOVE ME - [From the album "A STRANGER IN MY OWN BACK YARD"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] The crowd were enjoying themselves as they clapped along. Great guitar solo from Bill. Straight into the next song with a 1-2-3-4 count-in from Gilbert.
MAKE MY DAY - [From the album "PIANO FOREPLAY"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band+ Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] After the song Gilbert told us how the song title was influenced by Clint Eastwood's famous catchphrase and how they almost met but didn't when they were in adjoining studios a few years back when Gilbert the song for Top Of The Pops 2 [UK music show] and Clint Eastwood was being interviewed for the 'Parkinson' chat show.
NO MATTER HOW I TRY - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band+ Mick [Keyboard] This was interesting because Gilbert started to play "What's In A Kiss" while everybody else started to play "No Matter How I Try". There was confusion, but the band were right and Gilbert explained his mistake by saying "I wrote them"....[audience laughter].
The song had the usual long intro that Gilbert likes to do live. Bill's guitar was prominent throughout. During the solo Gilbert shouted "Rock on Tommy" in reference to the popular catchphrase of English stand-up comedian Bobby Ball about his comedy partner Tommy Cannon. the song was well received and Gilbert answered "Danke". Straight into the next song with a 2-3-4 count-in from Gilbert.
IF I DON'T GET YOU (BACK AGAIN) - [From the album "HIMSELF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] Nice solo by Bill on acoustic guitar.
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING - [From the album "HIMSELF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] This song remains one of the highlights of the show with everybody rocking and great individual solos.
Gilbert spoke about the next song saying "It's nice to revisit your back catalogue, especially when it's been 35 years." This raised a giggle from a member of the audience. Gilbert heard it and answered, "I know, before you were born, I'm not depressed by that. It's nice to change a song around, the tempo, the style. This next song is a song that was successful for me, I've revisited it and changed it to a reggae style and it's almost like a new song. I hope you like it."
WHY, OH WHY, OH WHY - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Caxixi] Gilbert was relaxed and enjoying himself at this stage, leading him to say "Let's do 'A Friend Of Mine', I quite like doing that, as the band panic."
Just to explain there is a set list of around 35 songs with the normal set being about 30/31 songs. Sometimes there is a choice of two songs that can be played, for example number 3 on the list is usually "My Place Or Yours" or "One Door Closes". Added to the set list are a couple of extra songs that can be slotted in anywhere. "A Friend Of Mine" is one of the extra songs. So the band need to be on their toes at all times.
A FRIEND OF MINE - [From the album "I'M A WRITER, NOT A FIGHTER"] This song was by far the crowd's favourite of the night so far demonstrated by the prolonged loud cheering and clapping. Gilbert pretended to take an imaginary note saying aloud "They liked 'A Friend Of Mine', didn't like the rest." [Audience laughter].
Gilbert continued "As a piano player there are few piano playing icons. Unlike guitar players where there are many. There are some in jazz like Carl Gardiner and Oscar Peterson. But then there was Fats Domino who created that famous piano riff [which Gilbert demonstrates]. I like his style and I've written a few songs in that style. This is called 'Forever Wondering'.
FOREVER WONDERING - [From the album "FROBISHER DRIVE / IN THE KEY OF G"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] The crowd enjoyed this song.
CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF YOU - [From the album "OFF CENTRE"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Flute] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU GOT - [From the album "BY LARRY / THE LITTLE ALBUM"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard & Accordion] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] "A bit of country" Gilbert announced during the intro. Three of the string quartet stood for a violin/viola solo.
HAPPINESS IS ME AND YOU - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Vocal] + Bill [Spanish Acoustic Guitar] + Julian [Flute] + Martin [Percussion] As always a beautiful rendition of this 1974 single with just Bill on acoustic guitar, Julian on flute and Gilbert on vocal, [while standing].
The band introductions followed. Gilbert had to admit that although he has worked with most of the people for a while now, he still needs a list of their names. When naming the backing vocalists Gilbert added "Niamh is the new girl". As always Mick Parker is announced as "You name it, Mick can play it.....Michael Parker".
THE MARRIAGE MACHINE - [From the album "A STRANGER IN MY OWN BACK YARD"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Charlotte [Vocal] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Flute] On the last tour Nina Ferro sang this as a duet with Gilbert, but this time Charlotte James stepped up to the microphone and did a super job on a lovely song.
WHAT'S IN A KISS? - [From the album "OFF CENTRE"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard]
SAY GOODBYE - [From the album "IRLISH"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Flute] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] + Charlotte [Tambourine] Gilbert sang the chorus in French. The string quartet clapped their hands above their heads and encouraged the crowd to join in.
ALONE AGAIN (NATURALLY) - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] Gilbert leaves the stage to a loud applause.
ENCORE
MATRIMONY - [From the album "HIMSELF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Julian [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] This had the normal live long intro. People in the balcony stood to dance.
GET DOWN - [From the album "I'M A WRITER NOT A FIGHTER"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Charlotte & Niamh [ Backing Vocals] The dancing continued as Gilbert and the band rocked the place.
STATS Gilbert played and sang 32 songs tonight representing material from 13 different albums. The breakdown was as follows:
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