Liverpool Philharmonic Hall – 15/05/23
I very excitedly entered the Liverpool Philharmonic last Monday night, I was about to see Midge Ure – an artist whom I had admired for a long time. The venue was filling up nicely and was almost at capacity for the start of the support bands set.
The India Electric company are a really cool three piece; made up of singer and guitarist Cole Stacey and fiddle, keys and guitarist, Joe O’ Keefe. Midge Ure drummer Russell Field completes the line up. They play a really amazing fusion of world folk, with dashings of pop and rock. Their song ‘Lost in Translation’ is possibly my favourite tonight, but I have to mention their cover of Springsteen’s ‘I’m On Fire’ – it was magical! This is definitely a case of ‘you need to check out the support band’ because if you don’t, you’re missing a treat!
After a very short support set, (I realised why later) there a quick change over and then the lights dimmed and Midge Ure and his band entered. The band was the India Electric Company, who would then go on to play the full headline set with Midge!
He opened with two tracks from his first two solo albums; ‘Dear God’ and ‘If I Was’. I was instantly impressed by his voice, he hasn’t lost a note! He sounded amazing. I have to say, I wasn’t as familiar with these two as I was the songs in the rest of the set. Visage’s ‘Fade to Grey’ was up next and received a huge cheer from the crowd at the end!
I was surprised at how much electric guitar was used in the set, we even had an AC/DC, Angus Young esque guitar solo mid way through the show, which made me very happy! No wonder Thin Lizzy chose him to fill in when Gary Moore abruptly left the band in the late 70s.
Midge says that in preparing for the tour, he had to go through the old Ultravox albums, none of which he actually owned, so found himself in the rather odd position of re buying his old albums again. This resulted in him rediscovering some gems and we were treated to a few rare songs at the Phil!
The albums he was focusing on tonight were Quartet and Rage in Eden. ‘Mine for Life’ and ‘Hymm’, both from Quartet were absolutely exceptional. Both were definitely show highlights for me!
Of course, another highlight was ‘Vienna’ – a song I first heard when I was about 8! My mum and Dad had the single on vinyl and I’m delighted to say, that nearly 30 years later it still sounds just as good! Midge Ure hasn’t lost a thing! His voice is incredible. When he sang Vienna, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It was something else, quite magical in fact.
The show closed on a high; ‘All Stood Still’, high energy, the crowd were all on their feet and we were loving it. If you can get to one of these Midge Ure shows, you really should. The musicality on stage is incredible, the band are on fire and even Midge moves seamlessly between keys and guitar, such a great musician. I absolutely loved it and would go and see him again in a heartbeat!
