John Lees' Barclay James Harvest - UEA 9/11/06

John Lees' Barclay James Harvest live at UEA, Norfolk, UK 9th November 2006

We arrive at 7:30pm in a Morris Minor that is as old as we are! We fumble for car park change as an excuse for two sad old gits to engage the attention of the very attractive young attendant for just a little longer. The moment of truth - is the car park full [reasonably so], are there any dreaded 'cancelled' notices [no], are people going in [yes, plenty], is there anyone in the hall [enough]? So far so good! The Caravan boys did their job superbly: relaxing us and getting us in the mood. The hall is well short of capacity, but it feels full - ahead of me is a comforting sea of heads.

I admire punctuality! My watch reaches 9pm, the lights dim and there they are, spreading out like big ants across the stage to their allotted stations. You barely have time to notice the whiteness of their hair, how shorter John is than you remember, or the contrast between John's smart waistecoat & tie combo with Woolly's shirt-out anti-fashion! No preamble. No build-up. Just - wham - MELLOTRON big time!!! Wow, heaven on earth. For No-One is a brave and dramatic choice as a set opener that really gets the juices flowing from the start, immediately dispelling any lingering doubts that somehow my expectations were inflated and unrealistic.

This was the real BJH that I remember from way back, not the deflated hollow shell of a band I last saw going through the motions fourteen years ago. Despite the absence of Les and Mel, this is how BJH has always sounded in my head: majestic Mellotron soaring through the rafters; blistering guitar solos that make you shake your head with wonder; those magnificent melodies delivered in John's familiar deadpan style; and a tight and powerful rhythm section holding it all together with authority. I helped John and Woolly with the singing of course, from the opening "Please lay down .... " right through to the final " .... you might not come down", and I now have a sore throat to prove it, but how can you not?

The band were cooking and seemed to relish playing together. My companion, a BJH virgin, later commented that all songs were "sensational". Well, to a more seasoned supporter who remembers BJH at their peak in the 1970s, he wasn't far wrong as almost every song was a highlight, delivered with a high level of professionalism allied to a real sense of feeling. Not technically perfect of course, I might as well listen to a CD if I wanted that, but with enough humanity and individuality to make them special. This was not a robotic carbon-copy of a past performance or recording, but a bunch of live professionals doing what they do best, and adding little extras along the way.

A blow-by-blow account would simply be an almost endless list of superlatives, but there were some little peaks and troughs. It was good to hear Harbour, but Woolly is clearly reaching a notch above what is now comfortable for his voice. The beautiful Iron Maiden was followed by a stunning rendition of The Great 1974 Mining Disaster complete with a little rhythmic twist and one of John's best and longest guitar solos. Before Cheap The Bullet, John's only introduction of the night was interrupted by a medical emergency in the audience. Upon reconvening, the song itself was the only one that didn't quite gel - Craig sang fine, but the song didn't 'chug' in the way I needed it to. The band also seemed a little disturbed by air-conditioning fans which had been activated during the break.

From there it just got better and better to the end. The ceremony of switching on MEL's Christmas lights preceded a thunderous rendtition of Medicine Man. I knew Medicine Man would be special and so it proved - such power and energy! The band clearly enjoyed this, as also on Poor Wages which turned into a lengthy rock work-out with John really letting it go finestkind! Mocking Bird was possibly the best I have ever heard it, especially the incredibly dynamic instrumental parts really brought this oldie back to life. To top it all was Woolly's pastoral The Poet [somehow overcoming a loud discussion behind me about someone's underpants, grrrr], building through the soaring bridge section before John's guitar leads into the apocalyptic After The Day and its astonishing crescendo.

The Norfolk crowd didn't let me down, chanting and hollering in time honoured fashion, and soon the band were back to play the 'Nexus' version of Hymn. It may no longer have massed acoustic guitars, but wow did Woolly's keyboard-bass thunder into the old chest cavity and make the walls rattle. Join hands - a bow and a wave and they're gone.

Lights up and its away to reflect on something I hardly dreamed was possible - no doubt about it, John and Woolly can still deliver. Woolly's vocal range may have narrowed though his on-stage witticisms haven't. He no longer tries to command a barrage of keyboards, but none of that matters a jot when The Master fires up 'MEL' and out come those wonderful sounds. John's voice seems to have lost nothing to age, though the occasional broken run suggests perhaps his fingers are not as supple as they once were. Generally the sound was superb. Perhaps Craig's bass could have been better defined from where I was standing, but we were amazed at the volume and quality pushed out by a surprisingly small system.

A wonderful evening, long to be cherished. Let's hope they make it back before too long.

Setlist

For No-One [sung by John]
Child Of The Universe [John]
Harbour [Woolly]
The Iron Maiden [Woolly]
The Great 1974 Mining Disaster [John]
Cheap The Bullet [Craig]
Poor Man's Moody Blues [John]
Galadriel [John]
Suicide? [John]
Medicine Man [John]
In Search Of England [Woolly]
Poor Wages [Woolly]
Mocking Bird [John]
The Poet / After The Day [Woolly]
encore: Hymn [John]

Joolz wrote: Setlist For No-One [sung by John] Child Of The Universe [John] Harbour [Woolly] The Iron Maiden [Woolly] The Great 1974 Mining Disaster [John] Cheap The Bullet [Craig] Poor Man's Moody Blues [John] Galadriel [John] Suicide? [John] Medicine Man [John] In Search Of England [Woolly] Poor Wages [Woolly] Mocking Bird [John] The Poet / After The Day [Woolly] encore: Hymn [John]