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Nazareth - Manchester Academy 7th October 2004
Setlist: Changin’ Times / Not Fakin’ It / Miss Misery-Judas Me / Razamanaz / Kentucky Fried Blues / This Month’s Messiah / Bad Bad Boy / Love Leads To Madness / Dream On / Cocaine / Turn on Your Receiver / This Flight Tonight / Hair Of The Dog / Love Hurts // Night Woman / Broken Down Angel
I only waited thirty-two years for this night. In truth, this night should have been two days earlier, at the Limelight in Crewe, but I ended up taking my youngest daughter and her friends to see Slipknot in Birmingham, then waiting in the car for six hours, instead. Oh, what a lucky man, he was! So, I ended up at the Manchester Academy, a gig I would have gone to anyway, wondering if it would be worth the wait and the anticipation. After all, Darryl Sweet died a few years ago and Manny Charlton hadn’t been with the band since the late Mesozoic era. Was this just Dan and Pete and some guys flogging the Nazareth name for a pack of Marlboro and a can of Tenants?
Nazareth is one of the first bands I can remember really getting into. Back in the early ‘70s, England was a grim place; strikes, power cuts, the three-day working week and some really bad cars, courtesy of British Leyland. There was no Internet, no colour TV for the masses and just a handful of music mags that were little more than teeny-bopper fanzines. One of the lights in the black was on BBC 1, each Thursday evening: Top of the Pops (the other was the Top Twenty countdown on Radio 1 each Sunday between 6PM and 7PM, in case you were wondering).
For a ten year-old boy, TOTP was the answer to everything; it fulfilled every need I had. Pan’s People boogied bodaciously, Noddy Holder leered lasciviously and Steve Priest posed provocatively. Back then, Top of the Pops was cutting-edge music television. It may have been pre-recorded and everyone mimed to very quiet backing tracks, but it shocked blue-haired old ladies into a tutting frenzy, had protest groups shouting the odds about the nation’s moral decline and had every ten year old in the country transfixed for thirty minutes, once-a-week. It was the icing on the cake. Then, every so often, you would get a cherry on top in the form of a serious rock band. As good as Slade, Sweet and TRex may have been, even us pre-adolescents knew they were somewhat manufactured. Occasionally, we’d be treated to a Mott the Hoople, a Deep Purple, or if we were really good, Dunfermline’s Finest: Nazareth.
I only waited thirty-two years for this night. In truth, this night should have been two days earlier, at the Limelight in Crewe, but I ended up taking my youngest daughter and her friends to see Slipknot in Birmingham, then waiting in the car for six hours, instead. Oh, what a lucky man, he was! So, I ended up at the Manchester Academy, a gig I would have gone to anyway, wondering if it would be worth the wait and the anticipation. After all, Darryl Sweet died a few years ago and Manny Charlton hadn’t been with the band since the late Mesozoic era. Was this just Dan and Pete and some guys flogging the Nazareth name for a pack of Marlboro and a can of Tenants?
Nazareth is one of the first bands I can remember really getting into. Back in the early ‘70s, England was a grim place; strikes, power cuts, the three-day working week and some really bad cars, courtesy of British Leyland. There was no Internet, no colour TV for the masses and just a handful of music mags that were little more than teeny-bopper fanzines. One of the lights in the black was on BBC 1, each Thursday evening: Top of the Pops (the other was the Top Twenty countdown on Radio 1 each Sunday between 6PM and 7PM, in case you were wondering).
For a ten year-old boy, TOTP was the answer to everything; it fulfilled every need I had. Pan’s People boogied bodaciously, Noddy Holder leered lasciviously and Steve Priest posed provocatively. Back then, Top of the Pops was cutting-edge music television. It may have been pre-recorded and everyone mimed to very quiet backing tracks, but it shocked blue-haired old ladies into a tutting frenzy, had protest groups shouting the odds about the nation’s moral decline and had every ten year old in the country transfixed for thirty minutes, once-a-week. It was the icing on the cake. Then, every so often, you would get a cherry on top in the form of a serious rock band. As good as Slade, Sweet and TRex may have been, even us pre-adolescents knew they were somewhat manufactured. Occasionally, we’d be treated to a Mott the Hoople, a Deep Purple, or if we were really good, Dunfermline’s Finest: Nazareth.
Nazareth has always been somewhat of a mystery; in England, they would, most of the time, find it difficult to get arrested, let alone sell out some venues. In Canada, they are treated as rock royalty and can still sell out large arenas. Now, I know it is easy to knock Canada, but if there’s one thing they do know about, it’s music; they have plenty of home-grown talent, quite a bit of which, they have kept for themselves – Max Webster and April Wine, for example. (Some would say, that is a good thing and ask “Why didn’t they hold on a bit tighter to Rush, Bryan Adams and Neil Young?” A pox upon those philistines!)
I loved Nazareth from the first time I heard This Flight Tonight. Razamanaz, is one of my all-time, top ten albums, and the other ‘70s releases are pretty much close behind. No Mean City has, not only, one of the best covers ever to be printed on a 12” inch cardboard square, but my favourite Naz song, the album’s title track. Much of it comes down to Dan McCafferty’s unique voice. These are the pipes of a man who sounds as if he gargles with broken glass and sulphuric acid, and shits razor blades. It is distinctive and unmistakeable with a sharpened, steel-edged, no-nonsense, Scottish edge to it. If the Razor King sang, he’d sound like Dan McCafferty.
Manny Charlton’s guitar work was often quite sublime, especially on slide, but as good as he was and is, he was never irreplaceable. Pete Agnew, I always categorised with Deep Purple’s Roger Glover; probably his measure of greatness is that you don’t notice him. He is always there, powerful, dependable and anchoring the sound, but no Jack Bruce he. Drummer, Darryl Sweet, had a sound that I liked (and still do – listen to Shapes of Things on Rampant) and I was sad to hear of his passing. The one fact that remains is indisputable: it is only Nazareth whilst the vocal comes from Dan.
I loved Nazareth from the first time I heard This Flight Tonight. Razamanaz, is one of my all-time, top ten albums, and the other ‘70s releases are pretty much close behind. No Mean City has, not only, one of the best covers ever to be printed on a 12” inch cardboard square, but my favourite Naz song, the album’s title track. Much of it comes down to Dan McCafferty’s unique voice. These are the pipes of a man who sounds as if he gargles with broken glass and sulphuric acid, and shits razor blades. It is distinctive and unmistakeable with a sharpened, steel-edged, no-nonsense, Scottish edge to it. If the Razor King sang, he’d sound like Dan McCafferty.
Manny Charlton’s guitar work was often quite sublime, especially on slide, but as good as he was and is, he was never irreplaceable. Pete Agnew, I always categorised with Deep Purple’s Roger Glover; probably his measure of greatness is that you don’t notice him. He is always there, powerful, dependable and anchoring the sound, but no Jack Bruce he. Drummer, Darryl Sweet, had a sound that I liked (and still do – listen to Shapes of Things on Rampant) and I was sad to hear of his passing. The one fact that remains is indisputable: it is only Nazareth whilst the vocal comes from Dan.
So, it was to the Manchester Academy that some of us ventured that night in early October. Not the big room, the Academy 1, or even the medium-sized Academy 2, but the intimate and bijou Academy 3. This has rapidly become one of my favourite locations for seeing live bands. Easy parking, wonderful event staff, great sound and, most notably, cheap university-priced beer. The only downside of Academy 3 is that the stage is a little compact and more than 4 people on stage makes it very cosy up there.
The support band, The Haights, was fantastic. I really enjoyed their set, something I don’t often find myself saying about a support act. But, they were good; very listenable, musically accomplished and had decent stage presence. The girl singer isn’t hard upon the eyes either. After a short wait, the lights dimmed, and some suitably North-of-the-border music announced their impending stagebound attitude; we cheered.
The support band, The Haights, was fantastic. I really enjoyed their set, something I don’t often find myself saying about a support act. But, they were good; very listenable, musically accomplished and had decent stage presence. The girl singer isn’t hard upon the eyes either. After a short wait, the lights dimmed, and some suitably North-of-the-border music announced their impending stagebound attitude; we cheered.
From the second that they launched into Changin’ Times, it was obvious that this was not a band to be taken lightly, or trifled with. They were every bit as hard as Dan looks, and have the benefit of years of stagecraft in the two original members. Immediately, you could clearly hear that the voice was exactly as you remembered it; the hair might be grey, and the years may have added a few lines to the hard livin’ exterior, but the man can sing. Boy can he sing?! It may not be the most tuneful voice in the world, in the way that Paul Rodgers is, but it is every little bit as much a part of musical history and 100% rock ‘n’ roll.
There was simply nothing to complain about, as far as the song selection or the band was concerned. Just take a look at the set list and pick fault with it. I dare you. Yeah, they could have played this, that, and the other, ad infinitum, but if they’d played everything I’d wanted, they would still be on stage. Lee Agnew, and guitarist Jimmy Murrison, are both relatively new to the band, but you would never know; they seem like they’ve been there forever and it all just sounds like Nazareth. The band is tight and rocks like a bastard. Favourite part of the show? That’s like hypnotising chickens. If you made me choose, I’d probably say, Bad Bad Boy, This Flight Tonight and Night Woman. The first two for obvious reasons, and Night Woman, just because I wasn’t expecting it to be in the set and it’s a great song from a great album.
I really wish I’d caught some other dates on the tour, but they just all fell at times that work commitments, kids and cash flow made it impossible to get there. So, was it worth the wait?
There was simply nothing to complain about, as far as the song selection or the band was concerned. Just take a look at the set list and pick fault with it. I dare you. Yeah, they could have played this, that, and the other, ad infinitum, but if they’d played everything I’d wanted, they would still be on stage. Lee Agnew, and guitarist Jimmy Murrison, are both relatively new to the band, but you would never know; they seem like they’ve been there forever and it all just sounds like Nazareth. The band is tight and rocks like a bastard. Favourite part of the show? That’s like hypnotising chickens. If you made me choose, I’d probably say, Bad Bad Boy, This Flight Tonight and Night Woman. The first two for obvious reasons, and Night Woman, just because I wasn’t expecting it to be in the set and it’s a great song from a great album.
I really wish I’d caught some other dates on the tour, but they just all fell at times that work commitments, kids and cash flow made it impossible to get there. So, was it worth the wait?
Every bit, and then some. To be able to perform like that at a gig, in a small venue that is far from sold out, is what it’s all about. They could have come on and looked at the audience and said, “Well, only 50% of you came, so we’ll only give you 50% of what Nazareth is capable of!” but they didn’t. They played a blinder when they must have felt less than up for it. Nazareth should, at the very least, be playing packed Apollos and City Halls. That said, I was getting drenched in Dan McCafferty’s sweat, I was so close to the stage, so from a punter’s POV, I love these small venues. You can get close to the stage, not get crushed by some mammoth in bra and panties, take some cracking photos and, usually, stand a pretty good chance of meeting the band.
The bottom line is this: you go to see a band that has been around since the beginnings of the Hard Rock movement, and you get so much more than a good night of music from your youth. As I wrote in my review of UFO a few months back, some bands you see and you think, ‘They were damn good!’ Others, you see and you think: Wow! That was a class act. The PA went down, the hall was empty and the drum kit fell apart – but they never missed a beat and played as if they were headlining Reading Festival in 1978, in front of 35,000. There’s a huge difference between the good and the great.
After the gig, I managed to lig around for a while and, eventually got backstage to meet the band and get my purloined setlist signed by the boys in the band. Everyone wanted to meet Dan and Pete, and understandably so. I respected their space and thanked them for all of the music that had meant so much to me over the years, and moved on. I spent quite a while talking to Lee Agnew though. He was very friendly and chatty and you can tell he loves being a part of Nazareth. Why wouldn’t he? This is a band that is definitely Not Fakin’ It.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
9th October 2004
The bottom line is this: you go to see a band that has been around since the beginnings of the Hard Rock movement, and you get so much more than a good night of music from your youth. As I wrote in my review of UFO a few months back, some bands you see and you think, ‘They were damn good!’ Others, you see and you think: Wow! That was a class act. The PA went down, the hall was empty and the drum kit fell apart – but they never missed a beat and played as if they were headlining Reading Festival in 1978, in front of 35,000. There’s a huge difference between the good and the great.
After the gig, I managed to lig around for a while and, eventually got backstage to meet the band and get my purloined setlist signed by the boys in the band. Everyone wanted to meet Dan and Pete, and understandably so. I respected their space and thanked them for all of the music that had meant so much to me over the years, and moved on. I spent quite a while talking to Lee Agnew though. He was very friendly and chatty and you can tell he loves being a part of Nazareth. Why wouldn’t he? This is a band that is definitely Not Fakin’ It.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
9th October 2004
About the photos...
Dan says sing!
For once, there are a lot of these that I like.
This is the penultimate set of photos from my Fuji 2800. Strangely, I feel quite sentimental about them. The 2800 has taken some good pics and has been all over with me and snapped thousands of photos. I'm actually quite sad that I won't be using it once I get the S7000. Obviously, the big Fuji is a far superior camera and all, but still. I'm a sentimental old Hector!
This is the penultimate set of photos from my Fuji 2800. Strangely, I feel quite sentimental about them. The 2800 has taken some good pics and has been all over with me and snapped thousands of photos. I'm actually quite sad that I won't be using it once I get the S7000. Obviously, the big Fuji is a far superior camera and all, but still. I'm a sentimental old Hector!
