Into Live Music Review: Shack/ Gerard Love
Love was accompanied by Noel O’Donnell on guitar and the multi-instrumentalist Tom Crossley, who made good use of the xylophone on a few tracks, the beaters plonking out steady rhythms throughout. Sweetness In Her Spark was a highlight and the crowd were suitably enamored with Shock and Awe and a tip top version of Ain’t That Enough. The applause at the end was something to behold too, the type of reaction usually reserved for a headliner.
There was a real sense of anticipation for the main act, Shack who were making their live return after fifteen or so years away. During that time, the Liverpudlian band members have been doing their own thing with Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band in particular enjoying a fruitful period with three lauded albums released since 2017.
The band took to the stage a few days after Liverpool F.C. were crowned Premier League champions in England. Three up top, John Head on guitar, Michael Head on acoustic guitar and vocals and the cool Pete Wilkinson on bass: far better than Salah, Jota and Diaz in my opinion.
John Head’s guitar early on felt like the equivalent of a Formula One car, throttle open, as he worked up and down the fretboard creating a beautiful sonic explosion. At the back, Ian Skelly on drums was full of dexterity, easily flicking from soft, patterned textures to an occasional hard driven thumping beat. Nathanial Laurence may have lurked in the shadows but he was a virtuoso on guitar, the glue molding the band together. That left trumpet player Martin Smith who was the Bruce Grobbelaar of the outfit, utterly unpredictable but totally compelling to watch and to listen to.
John Head took on vocal duties for Miles Apart, and Smith’s trumpet was brought into action for the first time on the night and oh, what a sound, what a set of lungs! When not puressing his lips to his instrument, Smith was the proverbial jack-in-the-box, dancing like it was the last night of the Hacienda, playing air guitar with his trumpet. What was clear as the gig went on though was how tight the band were. Every single component attuned to the next.
The band’s set was punctuated with album tracks from the likes of Waterpistol, HMS Fable and Here’s Tom With The Weather.
Mr. Appointment turned into a psychedelic wig-out, Wilkinson’s smile as broad as the Mersey as Michael Head sang “D’you read the news today, oh boy“. This was certainly a day in the life to enjoy and no mistake. Michael’s vocal on Meant To Be was sublime, at times having to hit a higher scale while the tempo and the music changed part way through and back again, the track split into three segments but done with consummate ease, wonderful.
The set closed with Streets Of Kenny, the intro expanding before John Head’s signature guitar squall came in on full pelt, brother Michael’s lyrics enveloping the room. The encore was a cover of Love’s A House Is Not A Motel which brought what was an excellent gig to an end.
Back to Liverpool winning the league, they say there was a tremor which reached 1.74 on the Richter Scale at Anfield the other week. I don’t know about that but I reckon the noise inside St.Luke’s at the end of the Shack gig was even further off the scale, Richter or otherwise.
Keep up to date with Shack via their website here.
John Welsh
