SOULSEC -
COMEDY BUNKER, RUISLIP 28/02/07
"I don't normally spend my Wednesday
evenings in Ruislip. It's the wrong end of
the Central Line for me, and even if I did
go there the last place I would end up would
be a Golf Club. At least they had a
restaurant for me to amuse myself in pre-gig,
and the irony of seeing weary golfers
carrying golf bags full of clubs mingling
with the black "Aural Sculpture World Tour
1958" T-shirts was not lost on me. My
expectations were low, and in that sense
dinner did not disappoint. Any place where
the wine list consists of "red or white"
should seriously consider it's qualification
as a restaurant. On the plus side there was
little travelling to be done from tube, to
dinner to upstairs venue, which meant that
the logistics were satisfyingly simple, even
if the enchiladas were over fussy.
I should mention at this point that this was
a fantastic gig! If you were there then I
dare you to disagree, and if you weren't,
then you may want to kick yourself now.
The upstairs "comedy" venue was small with
about 40 seats, a small stage and PC
projector advertising up and coming events.
Paul hit the stage with Andy at 8:30pm,
promising songs, stories, questions, "and
more" and kicked off with acoustic versions
of Golden Boy and Money. Paul looked very calm
and very relaxed - more so than I have seen
him for a long time. After these 2 songs
there were some Stranglers stories which
inevitably revolved around issues with JJ.
No major revelations or surprises, just a
very personal and intimate account about
what went wrong, how things happened and a
bit of why. The audience started in shy
mode with respect to questions, but Paul
seemed to have come prepared to open up his
soul, and his emotions gushed out. More
music followed including Mine All Mine (great
song, always better live than on the album)
and Sinister (never a favourite of mine,
live or studio, but I'm warming to it).
Unexpectedly, Paul used the PC and projector
to give us a PowerPoint projection! The
subjects were:- letters from female stalkers,
letters from JJ, some photos, and then a
rehearsed routine imitating the stage dance
techniques of JJ and John Ellis. Two more
songs (including Valley of the Birds -
surely one of the finest MK2 songs written)
and then the interval.
As usual we crowded to the bar at at the
interval, and fortunately I had learnt the
relevant part of the wine list off by heart
("red").
In part 2 the crowd were more open to ask
questions, all of which Paul answered,
although he was not too forthcoming about
his relationship with Baz. As already
stated, there were no major surprises. We
all knew that JJ was the difficult one, Jet
was great, Dave was great (and
simultaneously weird) and Baz was - well -
Baz. What was endearing was the emotional
frankness of it all. The iconic band
seemingly out of reach to fans was all of a
sudden humanised and dissected in front of
our very eyes.
More songs, including some new stuff (e.g.
Desert Soul), and Paul's version of "Slipping
Away" - I certainly wasn't expecting any Mk
4 material!. Paul is clearly proud that he
wrote that song, and wanted us to hear it
"as it should be sung". Finally, a very
surprising encore - Golden Brown. I am
really pleased that Paul played that song.
Not because I like it particularly, but more
because in my opinion Paul made those Mk I
songs his own during his 16 years, and he is
as entitled as anybody to sing them. I am
really happy he had the confidence to do
that.
Andy was superb on guitar - the best I have
ever seen him. He too was relaxed, well
rehearsed (you don't always get that with
Soulsec gigs!), and he was content sitting
in silence during Paul's long
narratives. His acoustic arrangements of
the songs were subtle and clever, and a joy
to listen to.
I am sure that the experience was cathartic
for Paul. Also, I sense that he is
preparing a bigger show, and honing his skills
as a raconteur. He mentioned Hugh a number
of times and it is clear that he feels an
empathy with him.
It all finished at 11:00pm - two and a half
hours is value for money in anybody's book.
And as for JJ, I expect that if he sent Paul
a Christmas card, it would be Thrown Away.
Set List:
Golden Boy
Money
Still Life
Mine All Mine
Sinister
Here
Valley of the Birds
She gave it All
Slipping Away
In a While
In Heaven She Walks
8 days
Postcard
Desert Soul
New Morning Town
Fried
Golden Brown (encore)"
Anthony Goodwin
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