Here is a double concert review for you. What is fascinating with these old papers, in our time of near perfection, is that the proofreaders were non-existent or sometimes not very good. An example of this is what you will find here. I have corrected some obvious wrong-doings in the Sabbath part, but I have left the Curved Air review uncorrected for you to see.
Read on!
Concert review
By Roy Carr
BLACK SABBATH are about as subtle as an enraged mule kicking down a stable door, yet it is this controlled use of sheer physical brute force and electric wattage that has enabled them to quickly amass such a loyal international following.
There are very few bands working in the “heavy-weight” class who are capable of sustaining and then intensifying the rapid build up of neolithic excitement that Black Sabbath generate in their opener “Paranoid.”
Despite the fact that the Saints were at home to Bristol City (they won 3-0), the sombre municipal sanctum that is Southampton’s Guild Hall, where the group’s current tour opened on Monday, was soon a sea of bobbing heads and leaping idiot dancers as the Sabbath proceeded to almost exorcise all inhibitions out of the capacity audience.
With his lank hair constantly shrouding his face, singer Ossy Osborne took up his now permanent position to the right of the stage where he feigned, lurched and writhed through such strong-riffed numbers as “War Pigs,” “Iron Man” and the doomy “Black Sabbath.”
Two new numbers from their forthcoming album were previewed, “Into The Void” and “After Forever”, which benefited from some fierce drumming from Bill Ward and some equally aggressive playing from bassists Geezer Butler and smilin’ Tony Iommi whose guitar playing has improved immensely following the foursome’s succesful expeditionary trip to the States.
In all, their appearance and the audience participation speaks well of their future, and their finale of “Fairies Wear Boots” being the proverbial clincher.
Now is the time to forget the barrage of publicity and the obvious gimmick of a multi-coloured album.. they’ve served their intended purpose in that they have succeeded in bringing Curved Air the attention they need on a national basis.
Now on their own and without the protective cocoon of the publicity machine they consolidated the belief that they possess all the major qualities that a band needs to succeed and afterwards maintain the initial impact.
Faced with a cold audience in their first half spot, they worked flat out with the result that they had the entire multitude on their feet yelling for an encore at the end of their tour-de-force, “Vivaldi.” The switching on of the house lights midway through their set didn’t help but to their credit but they didn’t let it deter them.
Curved Air are rapidly developing into a band of strong personalities and though this is a good trait, they’ll have to be doubly careful that this commendable asset doesn’t backfire and become overworked.
At the moment, violinist Darryl Way and vocalist Sonja Kristina dominate the proceedings to dramatic effect. During “It Happened Today” Sonja was in complete control, while in other selections from their debut album Darry’s virtuosity completely transfixed one’s attention as he took the solo role usually reserved for a guitarist.
However, guitarist/pianist Francis Monkman, Ian Eyre on bass guitar and drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa were able to acquit themselves in an almost equally commendable manner.
