Shed Seven with Inspiral Carpets @ 02 Academy, 18th December 2015
Reviewing for Brumlive can be an education. You can learn some interesting facts. Such as Rick Witter being anatomically challenged, sensitive about his age, and a dab hand at singing the odd jingle; but more about that later. For the second weekend in a row I’m witnessing yet another band for which I have held a soft spot for years. Not the head-liner like The Charlatans this time; rather the “support”, Inspiral Carpets.
Restored to something like their original line-up with Stephen Holt on vocal duties, they are a feature on the indie nostalgia circuit, but there is more to them than that and they have enough of a cult following to keep the bandwagon rolling. Tonight they were playing in the dark for the most part. There was some photographic set-up all over the stage and a very busy photographer running all over and involved in everything, even through the Shed Seven set. I suspect another DVD or live extravaganza will be hitting the shelves soon.
They rattled through a set of hits including Joe, Saturn Five and This Is How It Feels, accompanied by the football crowd antics of the Inspirals fans in the audience (Boooooooooon!), and interrupted only by an incongruous marriage proposal from some lady in the audience to her boyfriend; this being conducted by Clint Boon.
He conducts everything. Although Stephen Holt is the lead singer, Clint Boon has equal or greater prominence as the front-man. Like the Hammond Organ defining a lot of what is distinctive about The Charlatans’ sound, the more piercing tones of Clint Boon’s Farfisa does the same for Inspiral Carpets.
The distinctive sound at any Shed Seven gig is the crowd. This is probably true in Birmingham as much as anywhere. The repeated strains of Chasing Rainbows at the end of the recent live DVD came from these folks and Rick Witter made a point of mentioning the “good singin’” throughout the evening; and sing they did. The band has a tried and tested formula. Play the favourites and let everyone get stuck in.
Snake-hipped Rick was the choir master on the stage and, towards the end of the set, in the crowd. I wouldn’t class any of their tunes as being on my list of faves but the staples, Going For Gold and Getting Better, as well as the anthem Chasing Rainbows, still stand out. Rick has more of the cheeky Yorkshire patter about him these days comparing himself favourably to the sturdy, shirtless bloke who was lifted over the crowd early on, and responding to a call for him to “show us your fat arse” with his description of his challenged anatomy: “I don’t have an arse; I just have a long back with a hole at the end”.
He took the banter and gave as good as he got. The only crack in the veneer was when he described the review from the previous night’s gig where the pundit had claimed that he was doing OK for 50: “I’m only 43!”. To be honest he looks pretty good for 43 as well.
So why was he singing the Bodyform jingle? Well, one of the well criticised moves by the band in their earlier career was to re-record the anthem Speakeasy for an advertisement for The Link. Fans and pundits complained that they were selling out, going for the easy money etc. Rick made light of it as they had worked with “The Best”. The guy who produced their Link ad also wrote the Bodyform jingle and a few others that we had to endure.
For the second weekend in a row a raucous pre-Christmas Brummie crowd gave me a good night out. With the crowd in that mood, at times it was like being on the terraces, spilling out onto Bristol road. As we left, the strains of Chasing Rainbows could be heard through the Pagoda underpass and into the city centre.
Set lists (I think)
Shed Seven:
She Left Me on Friday
Casino Girl
Where Have You Been Tonight
Devil in Your Shoes
Speakeasy
Cry For Help
Dolphin
Long Time Dead
High Hopes
Disco Down
Bully Boy
Ocean Pie
On Standby
Going for Gold
Parallel Lines
Encore:
Missing Out
Getting Better
Chasing Rainbows
Inspiral Carpets:
Joe
You’re So Good for Me
This Is How It Feels
She Comes in the Fall
Two Worlds Collide
I Want You
Find Out Why
Dragging Me Down
Directing Traffik
Let You Down
Saturn 5
Review: Ian Gelling
Photographs: Stephanie Colledge