The Waterboys - University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, England - 02.02.01

My expectations of this event were high - I had waited a long time to see "The Waterboys", tickets having proved elusive in the past.  On top of that, my quest was made even more difficult when some of the band members decided to go their own separate ways in search of their own careers (a bit inconsiderate of them I think).   OK, so it was no surprise when Mike Scott was the only remaining member of the band's original line up, but I wasn't going to let a minor detail like that put me off, and with Ian ("Icicle Works") McNabb thrown into the bargain making a guest appearance on keyboards, I knew that the evening was going to blow me away.  The Waterboys in their current form are now The Waterboys plus a Watergirl (on bass) but again, that's only a minor detail.

The new band members went through their paces with such enthusiasm you could have almost thought that they had always been part of The Waterboys.  There was however a main ingredient missing - a saxophonist (come back Anthony Thistlewaite - all is forgiven), and "All the Things She Gave Me" suffered badly as a result.  

The mighty wordsmith, Mike Scott (who looked like he had walked straight off the 'set' of "Yellow Submarine" with his bell-bottomed trousers and shiny, pointy shoes), cast his spell, mesmerising the members of the audience with the thought-provoking "Is She Conscious" and then whipping them up into a frenzy with "Be My Enemy".   The repertoire was vast, spanning several albums, including the albums from the formative years.

It seems to me that the band's material over the years has gone through various stages of development following a natural progression, the old style ("The Waterboys", "This Is the Sea") blending effortlessly with the not so old ("Dream Harder") and the new ("A Rock in the Weary Land") Waterboys' styles.    The raw folk albums, "Fisherman's Blues" and "Room to Roam", don't follow the pattern but they represent a completely different (but just as good) era for the band.   However the music has come full circle and nothing illustrates this better than the ease with which the band was able to merge "The Pan Within" into "The Return of Pan".  Perhaps the early period is the one which Mike best identifies himself with.  It's no secret that Mike has a deep, spiritual side to his personality and there's no doubt that this is reflected in his songwriting.

Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand, the band's performance was exemplary.    There was a lot of mutual appreciation going on - in an impromptu moment whilst the band was in the middle of performing "The Whole of the Moon", Mike stopped singing and each band member stopped playing as their instruments could only just be heard over the sound of the chanting audience.  The band didn't seem to know what to do next, so each band member linked hands and bowed to their by now very contented audience.   It seemed as if the audience and the band didn't want the evening to come to an end, but, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and after a couple of hours it was all over and the band disappeared behind the stage door and the audience went merrily on its way. 

Rating: *****

Date of Review: 01.03.01

Click here to get the set list for this gig.