13 December 2010 (gig)
19 December 2010
Despite a bitterly cold night in North London there was a solid turnout to see three bands in various stages of reformation and estrangement. However, this is Argent’s night. The original line-up reformed for the High Voltage festival earlier this year, and enjoyed it so much that they decided to play a few other shows.
First up we had Curved Air whose blend of prog and folk suitably warmed up the audience. After a lengthy opening number – in a very short set – Sonja Kristina came on and took hold of the show with some style. The beautiful Melinda (more of less) was the highlight of a rollicking set.
It’s a more complicated situation with Wishbone Ash (This lot definitely aren’t going to reform any time soon.) and tonight we had Martin Turner’s version. A safe and solid set including The King Will Come, Warrior and Blowing Free couldn’t fail.
Rotten sound dogged Argent’s opening number Its Only Money, and a rather unresponsive crowd didn’t help matters. However things really clicked with the majestic Rejoice. We were also treated to songs never before played live and Be Free was terrific. They also adventured away from their albums with Rod Argent’s first song The Way She Looks and a very powerful version of I Don’t Believe in Miracles.
An Irish jig intros a storming version of Since You’ve been Gone, as Argent reminds us, it may have been performed by another band but Russ wrote it. The set ended with a stirring Hold Your Head Up, what else. Another song performed by another band God Gave Rock and Roll To You was the encore and frankly, they took it back tonight.
It’s been around 37 years since this line-up actually last played together for any length of time so slick isn’t the description one would use for the performance. It was more like old friends getting together again, and just having a good time. For us, it may be the final opportunity to see one of the UKs most underrated bands, and should be savoured.
