25 years on from my first Heavies album, I now have 10 and have seen them live 4 times, so I'm a bit of a fan. But Friday was a little disappointing. The venue was great, the crowd very varied and the atmosphere good. The first hour of the gig was pretty tight and then they went off, which I thought was a bit soon. They came back out for 3 or 4 tracks but it was a little loose and somehow not the usual standard.
Reasons? Firstly, no Jan Kincaid on drums as he's left the band. His replacement attempted a pretty pathetic drum solo, but otherwise kept up. But without Jan, a few notable songs would always be missing (Shelter etc). Originally this was billed as a Sweet Freaks gig, but I noticed this dropped off the billing. So I may be wrong but disarray and trouble in the camp seems to be simmering below the surface.
Secondly, Andrew Levy was clearly not happy with the set-up of his instruments. On the upside, N'dea and Si were their usual flamboyant and entertaining selves but with only 90-ish minutes on stage, the repertoire was the usual popular stuff. I really wish they'd play some of their funkier stuff and draw more from the later albums (We won't stop, Sweet Freaks, Get used to it etc).
I'd forgive the Heavies anything as they will always be one of my favourites, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to see them again if it's like this. We were in the crowd for their 'Live In London' album gig a few years back, which was a bit of a comeback, and was fantastic. Last Friday's show was a shadow of the earlier stuff we'd been to.
And I can't listen to Midnight at the Oasis anymore, not when their broader collection is so good. Perhaps a few smaller gigs for their diehard, older fans would be welcome, until then I'll stick to my album collection, pipe and slippers.