Concert Review: Birmingham, UK - May 3, 2009
Chris Raymond:
I felt pretty lucky to have been at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham Concert last night (Sunday 3rd May). I’d never had a floor seat before and was really surprised how close the front row was to the stage. Not a good view especially for a small person like me but being so close compensated for that when the dancing bit started. There was no preamble and as soon as the lights went down Chris walked onto the stage at 19.35 pointing to his wrist as if to say, “I’m on time”. The audience erupted with loud applause. After First Steps and The Same Sun C de B introduced the show. Playing solo he continued with fairly quiet numbers on guitar and piano. I was thrilled that Chris chose to play Shine On, a very special track for me and on reaching Borderline Nigel and Al joined him. Sailing Away was the first ‘proper’ Band song and the stalwarts were already singing and swaying along. Turn, Turn, Turn from the new album was great and Oh My Brave Hearts was fabulous with such a strong beat and backing from the Band. Towards the end of Leather On My Shoes the audience was given a very special treat! John Helliwell the Saxophonist from Supertramp came on to play out the number with the Band. Wow! C de B chatted throughout the show, sometimes joking but also serious at times. He was incensed that there were empty seats at the front as they’d been set aside and put on the market at grossly inflated prices so no one could afford them! He was also very angry that security people were disturbing the concert by pouncing on fans with cameras. He made his views known for sure! After the interval the Orchestra had assembled for the second part. The Conductor entered to rousing applause smiling at everyone! Chris then appeared and they greeted each other. C de B was wearing a suit (!) and sort of posed as if to say, “Look at me!” before taking a perch on a high stool. To start with the tracks were very reminiscent of the Beautiful Dreams Concert but suddenly I heard those distinctive beats of Spanish Train – AHHH! We heard that the Leader of the orchestra had spent some long hours arranging the music to enable orchestra to play this one and we were the second audience to experience it! There was a standing ovation for sure! The Conductor had a very lively style and it was great to watch him. Without You was certainly quite amazing – an OMG song! There was a bit of a walkabout with microphone during The Lady In Red, no headset this time. Chris homed in on several members of the audience dancing with a couple of ladies in red, of course. I spotted someone holding up a sign with “Go Daddy! Go Chris!” and was a bit mystified until we heard that the wife and children of the Conductor were present in the auditorium. A lady had kept asking Chris if it was time to dance – now it was and lots of people were straight up. Another special for me - The Revolution trilogy complete with knocking and running feet with Chris doing a sort of Spanish style dance! LOL. Chris went off stage for the Band part and John Helliwell returned to play the saxophone again. Time to introduce the Orchestra and Band members. The boys each got great applause and we laughed when Al ruffled Nigel’s hair! Tony was in a cage again so it was nice to see his face as he stood up. It was great that the drummer in orchestra did a drum roll to honour Tony! Now came the serious dancing as the regular end of concert songs were played. When The Snows Of New York began we all joined hands to sway at the front and Chris ended the concert with Footsteps. As usual he passed along the edge of the stage to shake hands with fans and down into the audience before making his final exit. At 22.45 several of us returned to our Hotel planning to have a drink together but the Bar was already closed and we had to find the nearest next place! It was good to catch up with old and new friends and chat about all sorts of things to do with C de B! If you're still reading - thanks! Hope you enjoyed that!