June 14th 2003 – Birmingham Symphony Hall
This had been a long time coming! 17 years since I’d last seen The Waterboys. Why so long?
Firstly, there was a gap in touring for a couple of years, then at the time, I didn’t quite get the change in style that came with the next couple of albums, (1988, Fisherman’s Blues and 1990, Room to Roam)….I’ve since gone back to them and love them (always the way!!). I really enjoyed “Dream Harder”(featuring “Glastonbury Song”), then there was some solo work…..and before I knew it a decade and a half had past before I’d see The Waterboys again!!
This concert falls in to a period of time where memory fades….no idea who the support act was, hence I should have made notes along time ago on what went on! 🙂
The album being toured was “Universal Hall” and it is named after the theatre and performance hall at the Findhorn Foundation, which is the stunning image of Universal Hall on the album cover.
A quote from Mike; “In early 2003 I brought Steve and our keyboard player Richard Naiff to Findhorn to make Universal Hall, a record containing one Irish reel and eleven spiritual songs that articulate – to the best of my ability – the vision that drives, challenges, sustains and transforms me.”
I do remember Steve (Wickham) was back in the fold, but as I hadn’t seen them for, well, ever, it was as if he had never been away and I had nothing tangible live to compare the change to….just things were back to normal.
The first half of the concert did feel particularly folky and beautiful tunes, melodies and a poetic feel to the lyrics and sound, Steve’s fiddle standing out as particularly mesmeric. For me, the fiddle has always been central to the flow of the band and provides the emotion behind the music. It was a deliberately mainly acoustic first half of the concert.
In essence it was quite a slow start to the concert, not the gusto I’d been used to on the early albums, in a way, this the music I had struggled to get on with a few years ago, but now, seeing it played live, was showing me what I couldn’t see on record.
The tempo didn’t really pick up until perversely “Love and Death” was played. After that the mood lifted from mesmerising to dancing….was this a religious music cult tonight 😉 “This Light is for the World” is so uplifting, but then straight back down again for “Piece of Iona” and “Strange Boat” before we got to a couple of “oldies” “Medicine Bow” and “The Pan Within”.
Then we got a chance, finally, to dance…”Always Dancing, Never Get Tired” probably because the concert had been quite down beat….most people stood for a boogie, if nothing else, just to loosen off!
Looking back then, we only heard a couple of the songs I was hoping for, it was as though Mike had deliberately drawn a line under the early past, which is cool, I’ve never understood how it would be possible for a musician to remain interested in their job doing the same thing week on week, year on year………I was so impressed with this new style now though, that I would go and see The Waterboys again later in the year when they did a Leicester gig!
Set List
Something like this…….
- The Christ in You
- I’ve Lived Here Before
- Bring em all in
- Every Breath Is Yours
- Sweet Thing
- Universal Hall
- Love and Death
- This Light is for the World
- Piece of Iona
- Strange Boat
- Medicine Bow
- The Pan Within
- Always Dancing, Never Get Tired
- Glastonbury Song
- Fisherman’s Blues
- Encore: Long Way to the Light, E.B.O.L, Whole of the Moon, Further Up Further In
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