Well, Level 42 came and went. I'm in two minds about last night's concert. The energy and playing were superb as you'd expect and the set list was one hit after another. My only gripe with the evening is that Mark's bass was too loud, drowning out the guitar totally and almost rendering Mike Lindup's keyboards redundant. I don't know if this was because I was only a few yards from the front so would in all probability be getting most of the bass from Mark's amp. I do know that 2 years ago I was further back (in a different venue) and the sound levels were perfect. It was only the second night of the tour so I guess the sound guys will still be trying to iron out level problems and it has to be said, at the end of the gig, Mark was asking the audiences opinion on the set.
I only took a couple of photo's with my phone (and the close ups have come out really small) so here's the only one I feel worth posting.
If you look very closely and use your imagination, there are two Alembic players in frnt of me. John 'White Cloud' is directly below Marks' amps and ian Petch (from Edinburgh) is roughly below the guitarist's mic stand. Lucky to get pics of them as the audience was on it's feet for most of the gig. I saw John taking photos so hopefully he will be able to post some better ones.
During the night, Mark played 2 custom Status King basses - one walnut topped with Blue LEDs and the other a quilt maple one with Green Leds.
On a more positive note, the support band were superb - The Mercury Men; three guys with acoustic guitars an perfect harmonies - maybe the next crosby stills and nash.
Graeme
