November 20th 1995 – The Junction, Cambridge
Aztec Camera didn’t tour a great deal and when they did, it never seemed to be close to Leicester or when i could afford to go. So when this gig came up…in Cambridge!! we had to take a road trip.
Roddy had just released the album “Frestonia” a week earlier and it would turn out to be the last album and tour under the Aztec Camera name.
The Junction, Cambridge, was a new venue for us and a very, very dark one at that! It felt like wandering through a tunnel to get to the stage area, but when you got there it opened up a bit, but still felt quite enclosed.
Roddy’s melodic music had drifted quite a bit since the first two albums “High Land Hard Rain” and “Knife”. Both were full of pop tunes and very much band based, but even then, a few songs were more rhythmic and slower and always with the guitar central to the sound.
As he moved his music through “Love”, “Stray” and “Dreamland”, there was less band influence required and harmony, guitar and vocals became even more prominent. I guess, with that in mind, it wasn’t much of a surprise that he went solo after this…..
This was a more subdued gig than I’d expected and “Frestonia” was a slow strange album for me at the time, I sort of didn’t really get it. It took years to grow on me and I now enjoy listening to it, but I guess I wasn’t ready for Roddy to move on from a band sound at the time. At times on stage, it felt like the band could go outside for a cigarette.
I remember the whole gig feeling a bit subdued and Roddy always liked a cheeky chat with the crowd, this felt a little less interactive, but still the music was great.
“Sun” was the single from the album (the only one I think?) and didn’t chart.
Roddy would go solo after this and it would be a few years before we saw him again.
Set List
- Not found a set list….expect it included….
- Black Lucia
- Sun
- Rainy Season
- The Boy Wonders
- Still on Fire
- Deep and Wide and Tall
- Oblivious
- Walk Out to Winter
- Somewhere in My Heart
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