The Icicle Works
Heartfelt songs about ambitions and dreams, friendship and experience, but mostly about life itself.
Formed in 1981, The Icicle Works released four albums that charted in the UK over the course of the following decade. Still touring, currently as a two-piece consisting featuring founder members Ian McNabb and bassist Chris Layhe, their visit to Epic Studios in February of this year (as opening support for Big Country) reminded me just how popular they still are, and how good a songwriter Ian McNabb is. It was, therefore, a case of genuine excitement to find that they were back in Norwich, and headlining a show at the Waterfront Studio this week.
With no opening support, the evening was divided into three sections – McNabb and Layhe would each play a solo set, and then they would pair up to play classic tracks from The Icicle Works' back catalogue.
McNabb, seated and wearing his trademark cap, remains a charismatic figure. And yet, with just his acoustic guitar and harmonica, it is still his voice and his songs that enchant and captivate during his six-song opening set. At times he has the air and attitude of a Merseyside Bob Dylan – songs like Fire Inside My Soul, Camaraderie and You Stole My Soul (dedicated to former Icicle Works drummer Roy Corkhill, who passed away during the summer) possess a striking sense of melody and lyricism. They are heartfelt songs about ambitions and dreams, friendship and experience, but mostly about life itself.
Chris Layhe, by way of contrast, picks out six songs that bring back his memories of the band's earlier days. He includes a cover of The Clash's 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' (which featured as a B-side on 1986's 'Who Do You Want For Your Love'), and ends with a version of Dylan's 'All Along The Watchtower'. Between songs he recalls the various studios that they recorded in, including sessions the band did at Maida Vale Studios for John Peel's BBC radio show, and that were produced with Mott The Hoople drummer Dave Griffin. He includes in his set a brand new song, 'Only Love Can Get You High', due to be released soon on an upcoming 7” EP.
But it is The Icicle Works that is written on the ticket, and also on the front of quite a few T-shirts in the audience, and the wearers are certainly not disappointed as McNabb and Layhe come together for a ten-song set that includes most of the hit singles from those first four albums. From 'Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)' – a song that has suddenly been given a new lease of life after being featured on the television series 'Stranger Things', to the beautiful 'Little Girl Lost', the memories come flooding back, and the audience joyfully sing back the refrains. 'Understanding Jane' is now re-named 'Understanding (Country) Jane', but still reminds me of Roy Chubby Brown's version of Smokie's 'Living Next Door To Alice'. Finishing with ‘Love Is A Wonderful Colour’, the invitation to come back and say hello afterwards at the merch stand sounds heartfelt and genuine. “Everyone who comes to a show is a VIP to us”, stresses McNabb, and it does not sound in any way patronising or condescending.
This was an evening that was spent in the company of two wonderfully talented musicians - songwriters and singers certainly, but also two close friends who are happy to share that friendship and closeness with us. And as music fans, we cannot stress how much that means to us.
