Rockshield Festival: Wishbone Ash - Burton-on-Trent 22nd September 2001
I have met Wishbone Ash. Back in 1981, me and my mate Stevie went to Sheffield in his Chrysler Alpine, Algy, saw Wishbone Ash at the Lyceum, somehow got backstage and met the band. I didn't have anything on me for them to sign, so I ripped a cheque out of my chequebook and got them to sign it on the back for me. Well, it was either that or a fiver. The cheque I could sacrifice, the fiver was all I had. Steve's car broke down on the way home - knackered alternator. A bloke stopped to help whilst we were pushing it away from the traffic lights and took us home with him, fed us tea and toast whilst he charged Steve's battery! He could have been an axe murderer, or anything. It never occurred to us at the time. Unfortunately, along with my original Guinness posters, that cheque, signed by Andy Powell, Steve Upton, Laurie Wisefield and Trevor Bolder, went "missing" when my "parents", "moved house", whilst I was living in Germany.
But, GoT, what does that have to do with The Rockshield Festival?
Ah well, ma petite Sparky, allow me to elucidate. The only band I didn't get to meet (of the ones that count) at Rockshield, was Wishbone Ash. Surprising, considering the fact that I was stood next to Andy Powell for about five minutes earlier in the day, but didn't recognise him! I had given young Angelwitch a rapid induction into the legend of Wishbone Ash over the previous few days: the Distillation box set with its copious sleeve notes; the "Live in 1988" video; best of Dates 1 & 2 compilation MiniDisc. I had also instructed her that the one wearing the baseball cap was Andy Powell, the original band member. He played a Flying V.
When the Ash eventually came on stage, the baseball cap was worn by the base player and the guy playing the Flying V was totally bald with a goatee. OK, I was confused. The guy, who had, in fact, been standing next to us when we were talking to Sean Harris earlier in the evening, was Andy Powell! I have to say that even though I now know it to be Andy Powell, it doesn't look like him at all. Sorry Andy, you don't look anything like yourself!
What can you write about Wishbone Ash that isn't merely a repetition of a million earlier articles? Apart from the stuff at the top, not many, Uncle! I've seen them several times since that first time in Sheffield and, although the line up changes, the essence remains. Andy Powell has become the core of the Wishbone Ash empire and keeper of the flame. Just when you think that Wishbone Ash has disappeared, the Phoenix rises once more and the twin guitar sound lives on.
Ah well, ma petite Sparky, allow me to elucidate. The only band I didn't get to meet (of the ones that count) at Rockshield, was Wishbone Ash. Surprising, considering the fact that I was stood next to Andy Powell for about five minutes earlier in the day, but didn't recognise him! I had given young Angelwitch a rapid induction into the legend of Wishbone Ash over the previous few days: the Distillation box set with its copious sleeve notes; the "Live in 1988" video; best of Dates 1 & 2 compilation MiniDisc. I had also instructed her that the one wearing the baseball cap was Andy Powell, the original band member. He played a Flying V.
When the Ash eventually came on stage, the baseball cap was worn by the base player and the guy playing the Flying V was totally bald with a goatee. OK, I was confused. The guy, who had, in fact, been standing next to us when we were talking to Sean Harris earlier in the evening, was Andy Powell! I have to say that even though I now know it to be Andy Powell, it doesn't look like him at all. Sorry Andy, you don't look anything like yourself!
What can you write about Wishbone Ash that isn't merely a repetition of a million earlier articles? Apart from the stuff at the top, not many, Uncle! I've seen them several times since that first time in Sheffield and, although the line up changes, the essence remains. Andy Powell has become the core of the Wishbone Ash empire and keeper of the flame. Just when you think that Wishbone Ash has disappeared, the Phoenix rises once more and the twin guitar sound lives on.
Every fan has their classic Ash line-up, be it the Powell/Upton/Turner/Turner, or Wisefield line-up, that is the most desirable to have seen. But now you have to deal with reality. The current line-up is damn good. I'm not 100% sure, but, I think, alongside Andy on stage are Ben Granfelt on guitar and Bob Skeat on bass. The drummer, alas, I have no idea who he is, but he does a fine job, all the same. The set was mainly the staples and classics of thirty years of back-catalogue, peppered with a smattering of new material. I suspect that at a gig in their own right, there would be more new material but, because of the ever-present time restrictions on the day, the set was shortened. A pox on the local council!
The acid test was not whether I enjoyed them or not. I always enjoy Wishbone Ash and always will, but would a 16-year-old girl enjoy them, when her normal choice of listening extends to Diamond Head, Metallica and Iron Maiden? Well, before I put you out of your misery and answer that, I should point out that she is not your average, run-of-the-mill 16 year-old girl. Mrs God of Thunder and I have raised her to be assertive and, well, she has an unusual sense of humour, but, yes, she did enjoy them. She even turned round and mouthed "The King Will Come" - at the appropriate moment. Now, this was partly to make a point that she had been listening to the CD and Video I had left out, but she was enjoying the performance too. I know when she's bored - everyone knows when she is bored - and, believe me, she enjoyed it. In fact, she would go and see them again, given half the chance.
So, for all they cynics out there who say that Wishbone Ash's music does not appeal to the younger listener, I say "Cobblers!" It does, if the listener happens to be able to differentiate good music from, say, a cat. After all, I have "Living Proof"...
Mark L Potts
The God of Thunder
23rd September 2001
The acid test was not whether I enjoyed them or not. I always enjoy Wishbone Ash and always will, but would a 16-year-old girl enjoy them, when her normal choice of listening extends to Diamond Head, Metallica and Iron Maiden? Well, before I put you out of your misery and answer that, I should point out that she is not your average, run-of-the-mill 16 year-old girl. Mrs God of Thunder and I have raised her to be assertive and, well, she has an unusual sense of humour, but, yes, she did enjoy them. She even turned round and mouthed "The King Will Come" - at the appropriate moment. Now, this was partly to make a point that she had been listening to the CD and Video I had left out, but she was enjoying the performance too. I know when she's bored - everyone knows when she is bored - and, believe me, she enjoyed it. In fact, she would go and see them again, given half the chance.
So, for all they cynics out there who say that Wishbone Ash's music does not appeal to the younger listener, I say "Cobblers!" It does, if the listener happens to be able to differentiate good music from, say, a cat. After all, I have "Living Proof"...
Mark L Potts
The God of Thunder
23rd September 2001