Black Grape
I went to see Happy Mondays at the LCR last November, and they proper brought it. The energy was there, the passion was there and so was the confidence. But perhaps more than anything else, the music was just as great even though they were straight - perhaps even better. Therefore I naturally wanted to also check out the live return of Black Grape.
I seem to expect more from all these 90’s bands who have been reforming and touring to celebrate anniversaries than from current artists. I want to know what they’re up to. Hmmm. Are they dragging themselves away from their comfy home lives and wrestling themselves away from their laurel-lying just for the money, or do they actually miss playing live with their old buddies? Are they prepared to give us a Proper Show that they've worked hard on, or are they traipsing around the country just to relive their glory days? Will staying up late in a succession of Travelodges without the drugs, booze and women be quite as fun this time around? Are they going to ruin our fond memories of dancing to their songs as youths by doing the bare minimum or will this only cement our love for them? I’ve been to see several reformations over the past few years - some have let me down, some have delighted me. Would Black Grape's return be joyful and triumphant?
Alias Kid, Ryder’s young proteges, were up first at The Waterfront and despite the fact that I found it insipid and totally derivative (the songs and vibe were so early 90‘s Manchester it hurt) the mainly middle aged male audience lapped it up. Expect to see them on a father’s day compilation in a few years time.
So to Black Grape, who essentially are still Shaun Ryder and Kermit (man not frog) with Some Other Blokes making up the band. From the moment they appeared on stage I knew this was going to be a good one. The room was imbued with energetic, positive, joyful vibes, great lighting and a full on sound. Starting off with In The Name Of The Father and not letting go of our attention for an hour and a quarter, Black Grape were magnificent. The band were incredibly tight, grooving throughout with some phat basslines, impressive guitar solos and sweet ass keys, perhaps the quintessential element of that Manchester sound. They were really very impressive indeed. Shaun and Kermit obviously still love each other like brothers from other mothers, and seeing their unbridled joy at being back together on stage again so many years later was infectious. In fact Shaun seemed much happier, relaxed and confident than when I saw him last year with the Mondays. Considering this was the first night of the tour, the party feels were already well established. Laughing, joking and sharing memories of writing songs in cupboards on crack, they really made us all feel like one big happy family. A proper celebration. A Black Grape Christmas.
It helped, of course, that their vocal delivery consists of shouting cos that just means we all feel free to belt out the classics along with them throughout the evening at the top of our voices, heightening the sing along element to the night. There’s not a great deal of subtly to Shaun’s voice, but that doesn’t ever seem to matter. We just wanted to get involved with Reverend Black Grape, Tramazi Parti and Kelly’s Heroes however we could. Perhaps the best song of the night, Shake Well Before Opening closed the main set - a stretched out, seductive, psychadelic, drug addled beauty that lasted a good 10 minutes, really showing what this band can do.
Black Grape don’t mind Travelodges. They don’t mind having to stay up late - in fact, the bass payer told me they were off to catch Don Letts’ DJ set at the Arts Centre post-gig. They’re still 24 hour party people and have balls bigger than King Kong. The news that they’re recording new material fills me with hope that the great white Shaun Ryder is back to stay, with some great new projects, a fresh new energy and his fancy new teeth. Nice one, the Grape.
