Band:
Bob Catley Venue:
Trillians Rock Bar, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Date:
18 December 2000
Taking to the stage in front of a packed room Bob Catley and his band were
welcomed by rapturous applause from the fans. I say fans because that's
what every single person in the room was tonight. Fans every single one of
us, people who have faithfully followed Bob through thick and thin,
firstly in Magnum, then in Hard Rain, and more recently in his own band.
This was the first time we had seen him on the road with a proper backing
band, not so much a backing band even, this is his band, the musicians he
proudly calls his fellow band members.
Made up of former Hard
Rain members Paul Hodson on Keyboards and Al Barrow on Bass, we were also
introduced to the new faces in the shape of Colin Alltree on drums, and
last but not least Vince (dodgy) O'Reagan on lead guitar.
Bob quipped that this was the first time ever he had ever had someone
smaller in the band than himself and indeed Mr O'Reagan is slightly
smaller. But as with Bob we always knew that good things come in little
bundles and this is definitely the case with this new guitarist.
It still takes some getting used to not seeing Tony standing at his side
with that big black hat on and long beard, but what this man lacked in
beard he made up for with a somewhat hairy body!
The set opened with the song 'The Light' which is taken from the Legends
album. Although it has been out for a year now it is still Bob's current
release. The next tour which shouldn't be all that long to come around
will be the one to promote the new album Middle Earth. Then it was
straight into another track from the same album 'The Pain'. After this one
Bob let the crowd go wild and clap and cheer their selves silly. We never
forgot him or stopped believing in him and he has over the years never let
us down.
Quite apt really that his
present album should be called Legends as that is exactly what he is, a
Classic Rock legend, a true gentleman and a wonder to behold in concert.
He has always remained true to his fans and them to him. You see someone
like this and you have to admire them for their professionalism and down
to earth approach to the legions of fans who want to shake his hand and
hold him up as some sort of rock saviour.
The set was peppered with songs from both his solo albums Legends and also
The Tower, but it was the Magnum tracks that had the loudest responses.
Who could fail to be caught up in it all when he started the opening
chords of 'Vigilante'.
His new music is top notch and as with Magnum he thinks carefully before
deciding what sort of music he would like to perform and what the fans
would like to hear. Being the tease that he is he only performed one song
from the new album - 'The Fellowship', which went down a treat.
If this is anything to go by then we will all be adding yet another one
off his albums to our ever growing collections.
The show went so well that we would have kept him there all night if he
would have let us. The band did however perform a three song encore which
topped off the set marvellously.
It is hoped that Bob continues on for a great many years with the type of
rock we have come to love so much. We appreciate the music he performs and
I think he could tell by the way the crowd took to him that we will always
be here to listen for as long as he's able to perform for us.
This new band of his are a lovely bunch of lads. Where as some musicians
might feel threatened working with such a mighty artist of whom his
history is well documented and carved in the great stone of rock history,
these lads obviously admire him and really gave it their all.
They are all both excellent
musicians as well as lovely natured lads who thought nothing of talking to
the fans both before and after the show. I truly hope he doesn't change
any of them as they make such a great band with him at the helm. When
you've had such a magnificent band as Magnum it must be hard finding the
right musicians to create another top quality band, but with these lads
Bob's managed just fine. If you didn't know better you would have thought
this had been his line-up for years as they worked so well together and
sounded so right for the songs they performed.
Towards the end of the set Bob promised that he would be back on the road
with the band to promote the new album, and then he went on to say that
there would be a Magnum reunion with him and Tony next year and that a
Magnum anniversary album would follow and quite possibly a tour as well!
Well, what more can
you say than hurry back lad, the sooner the better.
It will be fantastic to hear Bob and Tony back in the guise of Magnum
again, but I really do like this new band he has, as did a lot of other
people who were there that night, so please Bob, keep them both going and
do remember to come back up here next year with both your bands!
Setlist:
The Light
The Pain
Dreams
Scream
Far Away
Too Late
Vigilante
Start Talking Love
Lonely Night
Storytellers
Night
Fear of the Dark
Les Morts Dansant
The Fellowship
Just like an Arrow
Made up of former Hard
Rain members Paul Hodson on Keyboards and Al Barrow on Bass, we were also
introduced to the new faces in the shape of Colin Alltree on drums, and
last but not least Vince (dodgy) O'Reagan on lead guitar.
Quite apt really that his
present album should be called Legends as that is exactly what he is, a
Classic Rock legend, a true gentleman and a wonder to behold in concert.
He has always remained true to his fans and them to him. You see someone
like this and you have to admire them for their professionalism and down
to earth approach to the legions of fans who want to shake his hand and
hold him up as some sort of rock saviour.
They are all both excellent
musicians as well as lovely natured lads who thought nothing of talking to
the fans both before and after the show. I truly hope he doesn't change
any of them as they make such a great band with him at the helm. When
you've had such a magnificent band as Magnum it must be hard finding the
right musicians to create another top quality band, but with these lads
Bob's managed just fine. If you didn't know better you would have thought
this had been his line-up for years as they worked so well together and
sounded so right for the songs they performed.
Well, what more can
you say than hurry back lad, the sooner the better.
