The well-known British prog rock band
IQ mostly try out newly written songs
before releasing a new studio album. This was also the case when I saw them
perform at the DRU Cultuurfabriek in Ulft. It was the only Dutch concert before
the new album will be released, probably later this year. Therefore it was
rather crowded in the venue, but there was still enough room to move around.
|
Mike Holmes and Tim Esau (r) |
To my surprise the band started with a brand new piece called
More 7,
a strong up-tempo track containing all the familiar elements to make it recognizable as a true IQ
song, like Mellotron choirs, melodic electric guitar passages and synth solos. Next
was the first real treat of the set with a splendid rendition of
Wurensh,
an acronym for 'New Rush', and one of the musical highlights from
Are You
Sitting Comfortably? (1989). The next three songs were all taken from the band's latest studio album
Frequency (2009):
Stronger Than Friction,
One Fatal Mistake and
Ryker Skies
of which the latter was the one that pleased me the most with its breathtaking instrumental passages. Then
IQ performed again a new track of their forthcoming album which got the working title
13/12.
This piece once again proved that the new album is something to look out for. Wow, what a brilliant tune! Again
the Mellotron choirs filled the venue, while the parts performed by
Paul Cook
(drums) and
Tim Esau (bass) got a typical
progressive rock beat. Unfortunately IQ only played a short instrumental section of this new song.
Without an interruption the new piece was followed by
It All Stops Here,
a great IQ classic.
Erosion was introduced and explained by singer
Peter Nicholls. This song's about the
many problems the world has to face, about 'a real fucked up world' as Nicholls
called it. This piece was welcomed with a lot of cheering and applauding which
isn't that strange since it's an awesome track. The last newly written composition got the rather weird working title
El Bastardo starting with images taken from Dracula (1931)
featuring Béla Lugosi projected at the back of the stage. This piece had a somewhat
strange kind of Greek sound which could have been taken from the movie Zorba
The Greek (1964)! After this song Mr. Nicholls told the audience that the band didn't
mind people filming parts of the show with their mobile phones. However, he
asked them gently but firmly not to upload the new material to the internet because
it just concerned a raw version of the new song. Well, I guess his request
won't have much effect because I'm quite sure that it already can be watched on YouTube, just as the false start of
Leap Of Faith...
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Peter Nicholls in 'The Enemy Smacks' |
During the intro of this wonderful song keyboard player
Neil Durant
hit some wrong keys and had to start afresh. The highlight of
Leap Of Faith
was of course the superb guitar solo by
Mike Holmes.
Every time I get goosebumps all over when I hear this solo!
The Seventh House
was announced as the final piece, which the audience didn't like, but as soon as this great
epic piece started they were all ears! After a slightly weak request to get the
band back on stage Nicholls announced as a first encore a song from
Tales From The Lush Attic 2013 Remix 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition,
the recently re-released album on CD and vinyl. We could enjoy an amazing version of
The
Enemy Smacks comprising a terrific acting part by Peter Nicholls. His very strong
act made people almost forget that the musicians were just as important as Nicholls
who visualised this cautionary tale against drugs. The second encore was another oldie from the days that
Paul Menel was the lead singer with IQ. But as usual Nicholls had no problems at
all to sing
No Love Lost. Unfortunately
the third encore on the set list wasn't performed, but also without
the middle section of
The Last Human Gateway the audience
enjoyed a brilliant IQ concert.
Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen)