Fish - Manchester Academy Oct 1st

So he finally returned after aborting the 1st gig because of viral laryngitis.

Fish strode out onto the stage with that knowing smile that says "Ok, I kind of let you down last time, but we're all friends here and we're gonna make up for it tonight!"

And have a great time we did to!

This gig was an absolute triumph. The setlist was almost perfect, blending the best of Fish with a smattering of tracks from his new album 13th Star and the highlights from Mariliion's "Clutching At Straws"



From the plaintive Slainte Mhath "waiting for the whistle to blow" through to angry White Russian (dedicated to the Monks in Burma) "Uzis on the street corner" this was sing-alonga-Fish meets Billy Connelly as the anecdotes and gags flowed through a tumultuous evening. There were many great moments from the setlist, Square Go, Perception Of Johnny Punter, Warm Wet Circles, Incommunicado prefaced by a very witty opening video sequence relating world events since Clutching At Straws from a unique Fish-related perspective.

The voice? Magnificent. My worries about the apparent deterioration of the big man's voicebox proved totally unfounded, whether thundering out "I want a square go" or "daddy took a raincheck"  or lilting "it's that time of night" it all stood firm and confident. A rabble-rousing kind of night (in a polite proggy kinda way,of course) indeed this was Prog 'n' Roll for the 40 somethings.




Edited by Tony R - October 02 2007 at 07:59

Easy Livin wrote: Interesting set list Tony, not what you might call predictable.

Almost perfect given the intention to revisit Clutching At Straws. Johhny Punter and So Fellini were magnificent. Maybe I would have swapped Goldfish and Clowns for Cliché but that's just me.

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