Martin Turner returned to the Huntingdon Hall, Worcester armed with a new old drummer in Tim Brown, the rest of the old men, Misha Nikolic and Danny Willson, remained fully intact, well mostly. Danny Willson may never have been completely intact!
A fully seated audience of around 160 people took their pews, quite literally, as the lights dimmed and the band entered the room.
This part of the ‘Two Eras’ tour which mainly covers songs released by Wishbone Ash versions 1 & 2 which, of course, includes the ever-popular Argus period – aka the Argos period as determined by Martin.
I was given pretty much free-reign inside the hall, including the completely empty balcony, which was nice and I’d like to thank the Huntingdon Hall staff for their help with that.
Very little messing about at the start of the first set, and the band go straight into Time Was, from Argus. From this point on it was song after song, interspersed with Martin’s retelling of his youth in the Torquay area of Devn, and London with his first band The Tornadoes which later morphed into the Empty Vessels and this, in turn, morphed into Wishbone Ash with the line-up of Martin Turner, Steve Upton, Ted Turner and Andy Powell.
During the show there were many opportunities for Martin to recount his occasional dalliances with young females and various medicinal substances and several of the former ended up as fodder for the song-writing.
Next up was Blind Eye, taken from the band’s first album, Wishbone Ash released in 1970, giving Martin the opportunity to practice his pirate face, and this was followed by Errors of my Way from the same album. The twin lead guitars from the early 1970’s was being reproduced quite faithfully by Danny Willson and Misha Nikolic; nothing need be said about the bass! It was also nice to see Tim Brown back in the fold, and although Tim’s family seemed to be at the hall, the lady steward next to me took quite a fancy to Timbo!
Pilgrim from 1971’s Pilgrimage was followed by War and Peace aka Warrior and Throw Down the Sword, both from Argus. The boys needed their camomile tea and cucumber sandwiches so it’s a 20 minute break.
Part 2 starts with The King Will Come from Argus as we move, mostly, into Version 2 of Wishbone Ash. It’s at this point Martin Turner recounts some of his more amorous exploits while trying to drag Misha into his storytelling – which leads us on to Lady Jay from 1974’s There’s the Rub. The title track from Front Page News follows, with Tim getting involved in the jokey announcements and then the NSFW-titled F.U.B.B. also from There’s the Rub.
The vocal duties seem to falling onto Danny a little more these days, not a bad thing at all because he has a really good voice, and he’s quite proud to announce that Martin has been his bass player for umpteen years!
We’re rapidly coming towards the close of the show and once You See Red and Written in the Stars are done and dusted we reach the final straight. One more trip back to Argus for Blowin’ Free leads us to another of Martin’s stories about yet another young female and the show closes with Jail Bait from Pilgrimage. As has become the norm, the crowd stand to applaud before making their way out of the Huntingdon Hall chapel having encountered a fine night of musicianship. As I packed my gear away I spotted Danny Willson being ‘accosted’ by a couple of women and although the looked pleadingly at me to help free him I left him in their clutches. Thanks for the birthday wishes though Danny, I appreciate it and I’m glad you didn’t stay with Showaddywaddy!
Words & images: Reg Richardson
I fully agree, a fantastic night. Martin is definitely the life and soul of wishbone ash. I saw him in the 70s and few times lately and my mind hasn’t changed no Martin Turner no wishbone ash.
I misset your gig in Oberhausen (Ebertbad) – Germany – last October. Will you ever return to Oberhausen? Or was is disappointing?