Camden Roundhouse – 23/10/21
I hate to start a review like this, and normally my reviews are a lot more subjective, but, and take note, MASSIVE DISCLAIMER coming up!! I am a self-confessed Waterboys fan! Since I learnt to play Fisherman’s Blues years ago for a band I was in, this band just continue to amaze me, baffle me and blow me away. Anyway, that said, I jumped at the chance to see them again last weekend at the Roundhouse in Camden. Such a special, illustrious venue that over the years has played host to an iconic gig or two, and my first gig at this incredible venue, I couldn’t wait.
Unlike previous occasions that I had seen the band, tonight’s gig was standing. A chance to get up close and personal. I found my spot, around twenty feet from the stage and the crowd were buzzing. This was going to be a great night, I could feel it.
The lights dim and Mike Scott arrives onstage and sits down at the piano with no sign of the band and starts playing. The opening lyric ‘Here We Are in this Special Place’ seems to resonate perfectly with the surroundings. He really is an amazing lyricist and his delivery is a real wonder to behold. The way he phrases his words is simply brilliant. What a great poet. ‘Don’t Bang The Drum’ was followed by ‘Love and Death’, with Mike still playing the piano. Towards the end of the song, the rest of the band emerge and Mike jumps off the piano and jokingly says ‘I bet you thought I’d be sat there all night’ and they spring into the show.
What follows is a delightful set of songs. Throughout the gig, they played seven songs from ‘This is the Sea’, the title track went down particularly well. Again, getting the chance to really listen to those lyrics is a treat and I found myself transfixed by this modern day bard! The song that perhaps resonated most with me at the Roundhouse that night was ‘Old England’. Yet another lyrical masterpiece, it certainly read true given what we, as a country, are going through at the moment, both coming out of Covid and the Brexit debacle!
The Waterboys are an incredible set of musicians. They all have a great energy, the rhythm section was on fire, bassist Aongus Ralston and new drummer Eamon Ferris are rock solid and Steve Wickham as I have said previously is awesome. More delightful antics came from Brother Paul too in the form of a Keytar, which disappointingly only appeared for one song, ‘Ladbrook Grove Symphony’, but he rocked out, and then some!! I really wish we could have seen more of Brother Paul ‘out front’. Next time, perhaps.
Brother Paul would shine again in the second half during the song ‘Nashville Tennessee’, a song written by The Waterboys all about Brother Paul’s musical journey. The solo yet again was mind blowing, Brother Paul being required to play three blistering solo’s, the final of the three as if he were playing Hammond for his favourite band KISS. The second half, like the first had a good collection of songs from across the decades, with Fishermans Blues coming fairly early into the second set just before the aforementioned ‘Nashville Tennessee’
‘A Girl Called Johnny’ was another rousing song that had well and truly been brought into the 21st Century; that is the amazing thing about The Waterboys, unlike other bands that play songs the same way for the entirety of their careers, The Waterboys are constantly evolving and developing. This is the third time I’ve seen them live and each of the three times, they have been vastly different, but equally as incredible!
‘The Pan Within’ and ‘Medicine Bow’ followed and then an un announced musician arrives on stage and sits down at the piano and the band launch into their final song of the night, ‘Be My Enemy’. This piano player has some real swag, even playing with his feet at one point, a la Little Richard! It turns out to be long time Waterboy, James Hallawell, which was a treat and surprise for the long standing Waterboys fans out there!
Then it was all over, the band left the stage, after what I can only describe as an awe inspiring evening. I turned to my neighbour in the crowd, who pleaded with me, ‘there has to be an encore?’, and of course there was. The band returned to eruptious applause and Mike Scott sat down at his piano and the band launched into ‘The Whole of the Moon’. And then, all to soon, the end of the show.
What an incredible night, as always! The Waterboys, as I have said many times before, are a wonderful band. You can’t go to a Waterboys gig and not come out with the biggest smile on your face. The encore was a little short for my liking, just one song, perhaps that was a curfew restriction as looking at the bands setlists in other places, the appear to have played more songs, but other than that, a truly wonderful night and I left well and truly wanting more!
