Paddington RSL, On The Street
A Collected Works era gig review.
Author: Greg Perano, On The Street.
Date: 21 August 1991 (gig: 12 August 1991).
Original URL: N/A.
Hunters & Collectors/The Aints
Paddington RSL
Well, for one thing the Aint’s ain’t the Saints, or is that the point? What we got was the Laughing Eds, except there wasn’t much to make you smile. Ed moaned his lyric over some fairly unsympathetic backing especially the most insensitive bout of “the geese saving Rome” sax honk I’ve heard in a long time. Albert Ayler this guy was not, obnoxious honker he was. Enough said. Ed probably thinks I don’t understand, but I do, better than he ever will.
Last time I saw the H&C experience they were so stodgy that I fell asleep. Tonight, however, they are a different kettle of music altogether. This can be mainly attributed to two characters heavily involved in tonight’s performance. Let’s start with factor number one – the sound, or more importantly, sound lord Robert Miles. The Adonis of the mixing desk, Miles has the room working so well for him that I could hear John Archer pick stroking those bass strings. The drums and bass were huge without being crass and even in the far recesses of the room the sound was overpowering. The second most important character on show here tonight was Barry “Dave Gilmour, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Elmore Games, Robbie Robinson, Jesus Christ super star” Palmer on the filthy lead guitar. Finally the band has someone not afraid to the rockist in the best kind of way. Tonight the H&Cs were sounding like some wild acid-tinged RnB band, a big human machine, Seymour out front resplendent in red obviously enjoying himself, a trim and beaming Jack Howard, the inimitable Archer doing jis own dance and new fresh songs that swung and away like they haven’t done for a long time. Tonight Seymour was a slightly more angst-ridden Tom Jones and the band followed suit turning into the real entertainers they’ve never threatened to be. Seymour has gone from being a sort of Rambo Rimbaud to a sex symbol again, John Archer is the resident sex god and I have found themselves a new lease of life. Early in the night I thought they become a good RnB band but when they played Head Above Water with as hard-edged funk feel I thought they were a lot better than good. The evening’s highlight was an awesome version of Inside a Fireball. It was huge! Palmer’s guitar tore the riff to shreds and put it back together with the help of God and Jimi Hendrix and the whole thing rode along on a beautiful organ line reminiscent of The Doors at their finest. H&Cs have come full circle and they’re sounding young again. I have seen the Light and it is Barry!
Thank you to Gary for typing this article for us all to enjoy!
