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Stackridge

Venue: The Citadel
Town: St. Helens
Date: March 31st
Website: http://www.stackridge.net/

Stackridge - the very name takes me back to the early 1970's when a friend of mine who was studying at Bristol University was sharing a student "pad" with one of the band [who is not in the current line-up].

They should have been huge, like Genesis or Supertramp were, but didn't have the success that they richly deserved [although two members, James Warren and Andy Davis did go on to achieve major success as The Korgis ].

Stackridge split up in 1976, although there was a partial reunion in the late 1990's. The good news is that in 2007, original members James Warren, Andy Davis, "Mutter" Slater and Jim "Crun" Walter got back together and the band has continued to tour. I have travelled to such far flung places as Crewe, Liverpool [The Cavern Club] and Kendal to see them. Tonight they played in the bijou surroundings of the Citadel in St.Helens. When I saw them last year, they were without frontman "Mutter" Slater who had resigned from the live unit. This time they were also without bass player "Crun" Walter who had announced that he would not be taking part in this tour due to " other commitments". However, all was well because James Warren took over on bass [ his favourite instrument anyway- and jolly good he is at playing it too!]. The band had worked up some new musical arrangements and they worked out just fine.

With James on bass, the rest of the line-up was: Andy Davis [guitar and vocals] ; Clare Lindley [violin,guitar and vocals] ;Glenn Tommey [ keyboards and vocals] and Eddie Johns [drums. bodhran and ukelele].

The Citadel is a small, intimate venue and after a set by support act Blackheart [from nearby Wigan- don't mention rugby league], Stackridge took to the tiny stage. The Citadel may be small but the sound quality was superb, as was the music .Stackridge played and sang as well as I have ever heard them [and that is quite a number of times]. Every song in the set from start to finish was a cracker .

They played a selection of classics from their extensive back catalogue together with songs from their superb 2009 album "A Victory for Common Sense ".

The "oldies" comprised Dora the Female Explorer [ from their debut album]; Lummy Days and Friendliness [from "Friendliness"]; Fundamentally Yours, The Road to Venezuela and The Last Plimsoll [from their masterpiece "The Man in the Bowler Hat"- widely regarded as George Martin's best production job outside The Beatles] ; Fish in a Glass [from "Mr.Mick"] and Big Baby and Something About The Beatles [from "Sex and Flags"]. They also played a beautiful version of The Korgis' massive hit Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime [complete with gorgeous violin solo from Clare].

However, Stackridge are not merely basking in past glories, their new material [from "Common Sense "] is every bit as good as their "classics". Songs like Boots and Shoes, Red Squirrel, Long Dark River and Lost and Found are up there with the best of them, as are the two songs from their 2011 single Beside the Sea and Dummies. It is very clear that "Rubber Soul " and "Revolver " era Beatles have had a huge influence on the band and the quality of their songwriting is self-evident. Mention should also be made of the very talented Clare Lindley whose beautiful violin playing adds another dimension to the Stackridge sound. Clare is also a fine singer, as demonstrated by her vocals on the ukelele -driven song " Tonight You Belong to Me " [which I believe was written by Guy Clark and comes from the repertoire of off-shoot band DavisLindleyMullan or DLM for short].

In summary, it was a great performance and the band clearly appreciated the rapturous applause that they received from the enthusiastic audience . After that, it was back to the excitement of the Premier Inn for them.

Peter Cowley