London 1-3 November 2008

[RogorMortis]

Another Mortis expedition started on the 31st of October with a target of London with the Tangerine Dream gig on the Saturday followed by a combi gig of golden rock/prog with Groundhogs, Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash and Focus.

I had agreed with a rendezvous with Progdirjim and KeithieW at the French House (always known as the Frog). It didn't take long after my projected landing before the first message hit my phone.

"Landing When?"

"On the way to London - plane was delayed"

"What time now? - Your beer's getting cold"

"How the hell do I know. More beer for you then"

"It's your round Mortis. Get your asre round here pronto"

"#&%//#**¤"

I then turned the corner into Dean street seeing Keithie watching the other way as I didn't follow his instructions. I of course sneaked up and gave him a shock. Jim was there as the Frog was stuffed and we had to have a drink outside.

It was an evening full of Halloween costumes with a quick procession on roller skates. Here we met another of the locals Mr Egan who was an elderly gentleman impeccably dressed in a fine suit and a cap. Of course he was Irish but he turned out to be a well off Irishman who owned several properties in the area. He only shopped in Harrods to where he
drove his Bentley pushing anything else out the way "You can't park here" he kept saying in a typical English posh voice. He then flashed his £25000 gold watch with inlaid diamonds but he didn't buy us a drink. He toddled off and we went to a Italian restaurant for a meal where Kethie knew one of the waitresses from his work. Jim and Keithie consumed two bottles of wine with the food but afterward we called it a night.

Saturday was spent more or less lazying around until the afternoon where we headed towards Kentish Town to the Abbey Tavern where I met up with a load of Tangerine Dream fans including a couple from Denmark, Sweden. We didn't stay that long though as they had ran out of Guinness so we moved upwards towards the venue. It had now begun to really come down with rain so we went in another pub for another drink. The queue to the venue had grown considerably by the time we
came out so we stood in the rain and got sogged like everybody else. Finally very wet we got in and we found somewhere to sit on the balcony. Not knowing when they actually started I didn't dare move to look for the merch table but I found out it had been overswamped by hoards of fans with only two to serve. After the gig I did manage to get the new EP but they had no more T-shirts (damn)

Just after 8pm TD took the stage and started. We got a fair size chunk of the new CD Views from a Red Train and also from the new EP. Just below us the lazers fired into the balcony making views of the band a bit hard but it was impressive just the same. But TD they rocked with Iris Camaa battering away on percussion and Bernhard Beibl on his guitar high in the mix. It was an impressive gig and the general view from the hard core was one of the best in years.

The highlight however was after 2 encores we though it was all over and were stood up ready to go with the lights coming on. Then the band took the stage again. Bernhard handed Edgar Froese the acoustic guitar and hence came the opening chords from Cloudburst Flight from Force Majure which they played nearly to perfection. A tribute to the wet fans from the ban and this gig is already known as Cloudburst among the hard core. After 3 hours of great music we headed for home.

Here is a rough setlist comprised from a another fan

1. Trauma
2. Serpent Magique
3. Tangram: Terra Coda?
4. No Man's Land
5. Sally's Garden
6. Hyperborea Part Two
7. Sphinx Lightning Part One
8. Carmel Calif
9. Leviathan
10. Tangram: Dragon In The House?
11. Edgar's Guitar Solo Blue Bridge (Edgar's comical - and surprisingly fast - running back to the keyboards for...)
12. Fire On The Mountain
13. Tangram: Leaving The Masters For Good?
14. Cinnamon Road
15. Hunter Shot By A Yellow Rabbit
16. Unknown Sax
17. Tangram: Point Of No Return?
18. Sphinx Lightning Part 2
19. Going West
20. Tangram: Dream Puzzle?
21. Loved By The Sun
22. Love On A Real Train
23. LA Streethawk
24. Lord Of The Ants?
25. One Night In Space
26. "Tomorrow Never Knows" by The Beatles
27. Cloudburst Flight


Sunday morning we sat and saw DAvid Gilmours RAH concert on DVD before going out shopping and a Sunday lunch at a pub called "The case is Altered" A pub named derived from Spanish by a drunk Englishman.

Late Sunday afternoon we headed off for Sheperd's Bush and met up with Jim at an Irish pub next door to the venue. Keithie told us about this area being rahter tough and could be dangerous on a dark night. No rain this time but plenty of Guinness as we went in venue. The Groundhogs with Tony McPhee fired away in the beginning in a mishmash of
loud noise. My neighbour commented "I've never understood a word Tony has sung" I could understand that!
Hard rock was after a short break followed by Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash. They started off with an ordinary song but it was soon follwed by the well known Ash songs. Martin Turner is a character on stage and they enjoyed themselves. I would think they were just a bit better than the other Wishbone Ash i saw at RosFest.

The evening concluded with Focus. I saw Focus in Denmark just over a year ago with a full set. This was a shorter one but there was for me nothing new. Thijs van Leer was entertaining as usual and as it was Halloween he did play part of a song with a large mask over his head
while the other original member Pierre van der Linden was awesome on drums. They have a great guitarist in Niels van der Steenhoven but he sticks to electric guitar only. Great entertainment for Focus fans…….

Evening over I said goodbye to Jim who was going back to the States on the Tuesday while I headed back to Denmark on the Monday after seeing Keithe off to work at the Palace. I was home again at 5.30 pm after an uneventful trip. I'm now looking forward to the next gig on the 20th where jethro Tull are in DK.......

See my photos stolen by Keithie Keithie


.

Excellent review Mortis.

That ordinary song you mentioned that The Ash started of with was actually "The King Will Come"!!!!!. They also played "Warrior", "Throw down the sword", "Blowing Free", "Phoenix", "Living Proof" and "Jailbait". A great set.

Focus played "Focus III", "Focus II", "Aya-Yuppie-Hippie-Yee", "Eruption", "Sylvia", "House of the king", "Hocus Pocus" and "Focus I with bits of anonymous thrown in".

The Hogs were bloody good. They played a shortish set (TS McPhee is still showing signs of the mild stroke he had a while back) which included "Eccentric Man", "Split Parts 1, 2 and 4", "Garden", "A track from Blues Obituary - Can't remember which one" and "Cherry Red".

It was a FANTASTIC weekend with you guys. Thank you from the heart of my bottom.

I hope we can do it all again some time soon.

[NorCalKurt]

Looks like a good time was had by all. I wish I was there. Jim had a mean case of the squints, or was it just the flash from the camera.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by NorCalKurt

Looks like a good time was had by all. I wish I was there. Jim had a mean case of the squints, or was it just the flash from the camera.

You can tell if somebody has a case of the squirts from a photo? Oh, no... you said, squints! Nevermind!

[Rick and Roll]

Great stuff Rogor....outside of the French House, yes I remember...

[DamoXt7942]

Hi, Rogor.

I appreciate your excellent report.
It's difficult for me to hear the performance of veteran progrockers.
Could you all count me in next year...?

Very interestingly, this is my first to see the picture of Jim and KW.
Their eyes are brilliant!
I guess they had a very wonderful time...

[progdirjim(Admin)]

Good review I have nothing of substance to add. I will say that this is the first time I've visited Keithie and not had a hangover ANY of the days there - a pleasant change

[NorCalKurt]

Originally Posted by VAXman

You can tell if somebody has a case of the squirts from a photo? Oh, no... you said, squints! Nevermind!

good one.