Hello ... Hello ... my old friends ... It's great to see you once again! The sixty mile late afternoon drive to
The Nottingham Playhouse by Yours Truly KJS yesterday [Tuesday 9th July] was full of anticipation as to what would transpire at my very first
Duckworth Lewis Method gig - and that expectation as more than fulfilled during a hot Summer evening rife with eve of Ashes fever.
Even before the first chords were struck on the night, I had the opportunity on a Nottingham back street to engage in a conversation or three with the enigmatic and quirky soul who is
DLM and
Divine Comedy founder
Neil Hannon as well as
DLM and erstwhile
Pugwash guitarist
Tosh Flood who, by the way, is a true SME [Subject Matter Expect] when it comes to
The Small Faces - who were, of course, contemporaries in many respects to both
The Idle Race and
The Move back in the day. Undoubtedly, there is much satisfaction in the
DLM camp with the success of
"Sticky Wickets" if not a little skepticism as to the worthiness of the present day charts.
The first innings of the evening [back in the theatre] was provided by the talented
Left With Pictures, a London based five piece chamber folk combo who performed an impressive half a dozen songs that, judging by the queue to buy their latest album
"In Time", hit all the right notes for the audience. Next up was an entertaining live on-stage interview by none other than
David Hepworth with
Channel 5 cricket analyst and guru
Simon Hughes on the subject of the game itself, its characters, the Ashes [naturally!] and his new book entitled
"The Ashes: Cricket's Greatest Rivalry: A History Of The Ashes In 10 Matches".
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| Members only: Notts gig flyer and ticket ... |
It was then finally time for
The Duckworth Lewis Method to arrive on stage, fully uniformed, with special guest
Billy 'The Trumpet' Cooper [the England
'Barmy Army' principal trumpeter and cheerleader] fresh from his
Trent Bridge trumpet ban yet a welcome addition to the ranks of
DLM for the night. The world's
#1 cricket pop band then launched into
"Sticky Wickets" and a fifteen [15] song set with shared input from both studio albums that culminated with a rousing and apt
"Test Match Special".
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| DLM's July set list [almost in order bar the final two!] ... |
The trumpet solos of Mr. Cooper blended effortlessly into a performance where Messrs.
Duckworth and
Lewis were constantly and joyfully interacting with both themselves and the captivated watchers in the 770 capacity venue. Whether it was the complex funk arrangements of
"Line And Length" or that much-loved
Shane Warne parody
"Jiggery Pokery" ... all of the
Neil Hannon and
Thomas Walsh compositions on show were accurately and successfully translated to the live stage much to the delight of us onlookers. Looking at the above set list, it really is easier to try to remember what songs were not played, such was the completeness of the songs selected for the show. Hilarious was that ad hoc
Hannon impression of
David 'Bumble' Lloyd during
"Third Day"! We watched as
Neil and
Thomas fenced over who would take off their hats first and constantly added their comedic flavour between songs - oft with the support of fridge magnet collector in general and guitar wizard
Tosh Flood. The contribution of bassist
Simon Little and the neat percussion of
Tim Weller should not be understated either.
The vocal harmonies were spot on too. There were times during this gig that I closed my eyes and I could almost hear the dulcet tones of
ELO and
Jeff Lynne. But my lasting impression of the evening was of a band truly at ease with itself that was able to produce a kind of musical sporting heaven to the eyes and ears of this particular writer.
ELO Beatles Forever [ELOBF] strongly suggests that you get your tickets for the upcoming September tour, if you haven't already done so.
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| The final ball of the innings ... |
Extras:
The Duckworth Lewis Method will continue their UK tour
between Friday 20th and
Sunday 29th September. Details can be found within
this special ELOBF DLM Gig Guide thus:
