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Dave “Bucket” band then hit the stage. I had witnessed their rehearsals the previous day, where one of my jobs was to sit with a beer and a pen and paper and recall the lyrics to a couple of songs - and I knew from listening to the rehearsals they would be strong.
Immediately Bucket's guitar sound, twinned with ex Quireboy and UFO guitarist Paul Guerin, bounced out from the stage - and the band sounded really tight. They started with C'mon Everybody with Mods Johnny Warman handling the vocals....and driven along by the drumming of ex-Roger Chapman, Manfred Mann and Company of Snakes man John Lingwood.
They moved quickly into a great version of Thirty Days in the Hole - where everyone let rip - and then one of the finest of many Bucket songs on the 2002 Humble Pie album with Greg Ridley "All I Ever needed was You", and a song that was also part of Greg's live act rigth to the end.
Their set closed with Live to Learn, for which Greg had written the lyrics. It has now been finished after his death and will appear on the forthcoming Greg Ridley Anthology very early in 2005 - a poignant conclusion.
After some speeches and an auction for charity of Fender Precision bass modeled on Greg's, the final act was based around two Spooky Tooth original members Mike Kellie and Luther Grosvenor. I had seen them in soundcheck and they were red hot as a band, with neither of the above two losing their ability to pound the drums and dazzle the fretboard respectively.
Firstly, they played with singer-songwriter Paul Daffurn, on some songs which Greg had recorded with Daffurn before Greg’s death, and which are being raved about in terms of a release.
Luther Grosvenor then hit the stage with his vocalist from the Ariel Bender Band and they steamed into Sunshine Help Me, and then a phenomenal version of Better By You, Better Than Me, before closing with an even better Evil Woman. A lot of stagecraft went into these, in addition to a lot of musicianship.
Luther had regaled us backstage with tales from his whole career - of the VIPs forming into Art and into Spooky Tooth, and his experiences with the band in the USA. Also his time with Mott the Hoople, through many hits, and as the original Ariel Bender, as well as anecdotes about supporting Queen and even being offered the Rolling Stones guitarist slot. (More >)
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