|
During a long intermission, “Party For Greg” promoter Keith Stallbories, Greg Ridley´s wife Patricia and Greg´s sister Edith gave moving speeches to honour the occasion, and organized the raffle showdown where you could win a Ridley-type Fender Precision bass guitar. Then it was time for more music. SPOOKY TOOTH drummer Mike Kellie, one of Greg´s earliest friends from the V.I.P.s days back in Carlisle and also the Hamburg Star-Club, had formed a group for the occasion – with frontman Paul Daffurn, who worked with the late Greg and a sensitive, imaginative singer in his own right. His songs are as brilliant as they were a reminder of what could have been achieved by those two continuing together – a lump in the throat was guaranteed for all! Then it was a case of “Spooky Two”, not only an album title but the second Tooth member to come on stage – Luther Grosvenor a.k.a. Ariel Bender. Luther seemed a bit worse for wear, maybe due to stage nerves tamed with backstage beverages. But deliver on guitar he did, windmilling and soloing well and truly during “Sunshine Help Me”, “Better By You, Better Than Me”, the epic “Evil Woman” and the indestructable B.B. King standard “Rock Me Baby”, which on the night, Luther dedicated to guitar mate Jeff Beck.
All in all: a packed little venue and genuinely fine Ridley Rock healed some recent wounds: “What is and what should have been” is not only a Led Zeppelin number, it was also a subtitle to this evening´s event. With more advance sales, the bigger Carling Academy Hall could have been used, and some extra heavy friends would have played: Pie people Peter Frampton, Jerry Shirley and Bob Tench, as well as Spooky Tooth singer Mike Harrison.
|
