I have lost count of the number of times that I have seen John Otway playing live – in venues as diverse as smoky student union bars to an old time music hall to the rather grand Sheffield City Hall, with any number of festivals (folk and hippy) in between. I’ve seen him playing solo, as a duo and with his big band, and tonight's show at the Boardwalk was a collaboration between Otway, his partner in crime Richard Holgarth, Wilko Johnson and the Hamsters. Exactly which of them is mad, bad or dangerous is left as an exercise for the reader.
The show kicked off in traditional style with (as he delights in pointing out) Otway’s first hit – ‘Mull of Kintyre’ was number one, ‘Grandma we love you’ was number eight and ‘Cor Baby that’s Really Free!’ stormed the charts at number twenty-seven – and there were the usual death defying somersaults and pratfalls on the stage. The hit was followed by the B side (which sold exactly the same number as the A side), and then a few more from a chart career spanning twenty five years before ‘You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet’ when the duo of Otway and Holgarth were joined on stage by Wilko Johnson and his band.
In contrast to Otway, Wilko’s R’n’B set was as tight as a snare drum, as he stalked the stage like a velociraptor with laser beam eyes unleashing staccato machine gun guitar riffs at the audience. Even a broken string didn’t stop him as he calmly re-strung the guitar whilst the drummer and bass player filled in with an extended riff. He was technically good, but lacking something vital – the interaction with the audience between the songs was limited to ‘One-Two-Three-Four’ and ‘nkyou’ to finish with.
After a short interval, Otway was back on stage for another set with the highlight being a performance of ‘Body Talk’ complete with theramin and drum pads in all of the pockets of his jeans (front and back) so that he could literally play a drum solo by hitting himself. Pure musical and comedy genius. It was then the Hamsters turn to join Otway in order to play his second hit, seeing as how they haven’t had a hit of their own, and so ‘Bunsen Burner’ was performed, complete with disco dance moves.
Compared to Wilko, the Hamsters are a little looser, a little dirtier and a whole lot more fun. They play a blues rock style, very reminiscent of early ZZ Top, and it is blisteringly good. One or two of their own numbers were a little weak, but things stepped up a gear towards the end of the set when they played a godlike version of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ and ‘All Along the Watchtower’ followed by ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ where Slim and his bassist left the stage and proceeded through the audience still playing their guitars lit up with multi-coloured LEDs.
The show finished with everybody on stage for a superb version of ‘Born to be Wild’ and an encore of ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’ for Wilko’s bassist who had played on that particular million selling number one. I was hoarse from singing, my ears were ringing from the noise and even the drizzle outside couldn’t dampen what had been a superb evenings entertainment. Live music really doesn’t get any better than this …
Tour details available at http://www.madbaddangerous.co.uk/gigs.html
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