Mostly Autumn December 15, 2013 - Estrado, Harderwijk (NL)
It's almost a tradition! At the end of the year the members of the British prog band Mostly Autumn
(MA) cross the North Sea in order to give some Christmas shows in the Netherlands. This time three
shows were booked: the first one was in Bergen op Zoom, the second one in
Heerlen and the last one in venue Estrado in Harderwijk. The last one was a
Sunday afternoon show and also the gig closest to my home town. For me this was
the perfect place to witness the 2013 Xmas show by MA.
This time Slow Down, a track from Josh's solo album Through These Eyes (2008, see review) was performed, although I had preferred another album track of MA. Slow Down isn't a typical song from the band's repertoire since it sounds more in the direction of blues rock. Of course the performance of Bryan's spouse Olivia Sparnenn - who was introduced by her husband as Olivia Sparnenn Josh - was again outstanding, but that's no surprise, I think. She already shone brightly on MA's latest album The Ghost Moon Orchestra (2012, see review). Live on stage she really is a superb singer, which she insistently proved during songs like Unquiet Tears, Questioning Eyes and the second encore Tonight.
After this final number of this Christmas concert the musicians left the stage again with a big smile on their faces, knowing that they had entertained their fans with a great live show. Maybe they could have entertained them even more if they had adjusted the set list with tracks that couldn't be enjoyed that often in recent years. However, I guess that they just wanted to do an excellent show by playing songs which are familiar by all of the musicians. Mostly Autumn have become a well-oiled machine that is able to perform a great live show with wonderful songs! Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen) |
Setlist Mostly Autumn: Winter Mountain Drops Of The Sun Unquiet Tears Simple Ways Changing Fast Evergreen Rain Song The Last Climb Slow Down Deep In Borrowdale Never The Rainbow Nowhere To Hide Wild Eyed Skies Passengers Questioning Eyes Encores: Heroes Never Die Tonight Chrismas Set: Holy Night I Believe In Father Christmas Merry Xmas Everybody |
Pictures
Mostly Autumn by Arthur Haggenburg Click on the picture to enlarge. |
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Line up Mostly Autumn: (left to right)Bryan Josh: electric guitar, lead and backing vocals Andy Smith: bass Anne-Marie Helder: backing vocals, keyboards, flute Two girls from audience: guests Olivia Sparnenn: lead and backing vocals, percussion Alex Cromerty: drums ???: roadie Iain Jennings: keyboards Liam Davison: electric and acoustic guitar, lead and backing vocals |
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