UFO
"A Conspiracy Of Stars" Tour 2015
Quadratt Club, Cracow, Poland, Mar 6th, 2015
UFO - THE MEN
I was really curious to see the band 6 years after last time. Thank to good heavens they are keeping business in the same vein as Europe and Uriah Heep - every three years new record and a tour that is not exactly just cutting off the coupons and earning money for another scheme-in gig, with the same all setlist for years (yes, I'm pointing the finger on you, Deep Purple), just going out and trying at least bits and pieces of new things. Kudos for doing it to them.
Considering their age - it's plain to see that the time is really turning the screwdriver on the core of old boys. Phill Mogg, with slim silhouette, tiny bit of Graham Bonnet style hair-do and the teeth rather in the state of disaster and crumble looked like he's not interested in any kind of deal with Lucifer to stay young and fresh. Moving slow and singing with the considerable exertion - he reminded me of Ian Gillan, you watch them on stage having harder and harder time, tending more to speak the lyrics than sing the phrases which now even in middle registers are turning their efforts into strain. Phil Raymond - a pivotal member of the band with his multi-instrumental guitar / keyboard / vocal skills looked a bit of like "Death Becomes Her" character with possible wig on the head and full make-up on, but still not quite hidding the fact of turning close to 70 (in November this year). Andy Parker, the drummer, though looked impressively well and fit, no dye on the hair and still a lot of power in his drumming. I'm led to believe he really is taking care of himself. And round it all up with two "youngsters" Rob De Luca on bass (now full member of the band) and our very own axeman Vinnie Moore - both guys are now surely flying on the wave of their second youth, both very energetic and charismatic on stage. Together these five guys still really blend impressively, despite the passing time.
UFO - THE MUSIC
Squeezed into a 90 minutes set, UFO's concert really promises to be a thrilling "no holds barred" ride. And as always it also seems to be a challenge on how to structure the live set not to be replaying "Strangers In The Night" classic live album on and again. Audience favourites are all too many (some people in Cracow felt let down, not being offered "Love To Love" in the set), yet again UFO work consequently to be promoting their recent releases as a main goal added to serving the fans with the string of the beloved classic tracks. Since the tour started, the band had dropped the number of the newest CD tracks from 4 to 2, leaving in at the same time 3 best cuts from the previous offering "Seven Deadly". Result becomes a decent offering of their recent repetiore, at the same time the new staples are sitting quite comfortably among the old chestnuts. Given the physical condition of the elder members of the band, the quibble about the tempo drop of the faster tracks - the arrangements are being slowed down considerably to the original pace - should be replaced by understanding; still it felt a little bit odd to hear Lights Out, Wonderland and Cherry played in Beats Per Minute rate audibly reduced to the orignals. The most of the audience didn't quibble though, the tracks were as exciting and electrifying to hear as always. Overall feeling about the set construction is more than positive. Mother Mary is turning fourty this year and still sounds almost electrocuttingly exciting, great opener. Venus taken off the '95 reunion period is great, convincing rocker with hints of accoustic passages. There were no unnecessary ballad / accoustic / solo show-offs slopes during the set, with the exception of the wonderful contemplative Burn Your House Down, being a real showstopper for both Moore (who played spine electrifying solo in the middle) and Mogg leading tandem. And a true cherry on the top of it all was the inclusion of the Paul Chapman era rocker We Belong To The Night near the end of the main set, which went down very well despite band's hesitations (Phil was warning the audience that they haven't been playing it for a long time) and was rapturously received by the audience. Now this is how one should undust the old broom! All the rest was classic after classic, done with conviction and still sending the fatithful European fans into bliss of frenzy.
UFO - THE PERFORMANCE AND THE RECEPTION
When you have the band structured like UFO, on-board 3 veterans and 2 relative youngsters - you've got to feel a bit for everybody, each of them has a bit of certain limitation to handle. Seniors struggle more to cross through the set, while young want to fire it up and let it roll. Phil Mogg was clutched on the chain of his own fading out voice for most of the time and it was most painful sight to witness during the night. Physical aspects though are one side, but his mental side is the other one and in this department he rarely ever held back. So he did all he could within his own constraints - sang some lines, pulled out some, spoke a few too. Despite the feeling of struggle, decades of expirience as a frontman reaped the fruits - he interacted with the audience and was fronting the band bravely kind of ignoring (or was it accepting?) his limitations. Paul Raymond was always the stalwart of assistance for the band, handling backing vocals, keyboards and rhythm guitar - and he did nicely in all his areas, being ever reliable. Andy Parker might have had couple of miscued points here and there, occasionally confusing his bandmates in couple moments during the songs, but other than that he was really sounding solid and strong - true backbone for the band. Rob De Luca is still maintaining this boy-ish look he always had, although lines on his face are starting to appeear., dennouncing the passing of time. Regarding his bass playing there is nothing you can't grip on to, he's got the Pete Way's shoes filled and fit well more than handily. The boy smiles a lot and goes out to interact with the audience wherever he can. Great lad.
And now on the star of the show. The hero. And the stealer of glory, a real black horse of the race. Vinnie Moore. WHAT A PERFORMANCE from the Man. I was immensely impressed by him the first time I saw UFO 6 years ago, of which I duly spoke and exclaimed then. Still, by all accounts, Friday evening proved to show that this 2009 gig still was a restrained sort of performance from Moore. He was more in his own zone then, than playing out. Not now, in 2015. He was mesmerizing and TOTALLY ALL-OUT. Smiling, running around the stage, pointing out to the excited people in the audience, looking up to the balconies, giving away picks, singing the lyrics, posing and being all around engaged into boosting up the party atmosphere and looking like he was having time of his life. What a thrill, what I joy to watch this man. Did all that undermine his playing? Not for a microne it did. His playing was MONSTEROUS. Nothing has changed in his main department - he did all one could expect from a flawless guitar performance. Dexterity, speed, feeling, excitement, mindblowing runs and phrases - as usual all with loads of conviction and illimitable taste every note, lick and bend. It's beyond me how can one get so close to perfect in combining show-off with musical taste and excitement - because there was a lot of rock and roll excitement in the way he played. Rock Bottom might have run for 15 minutes or so, but if it went for half an hour, you wouldn't have noticed. He could play on and on and your jaw-drop wouldn't pick up anyway. Astounding, mesmerising. Vinnie is invincible, he still has it all perfectly balanced between the boom of shred and glory of virtuosity. He WAS the leader and the main attraction on stage all night and I think many would agree he totally stole and owned the show WITHOUT blowing the bandmates off the stage. That's the effort of the perfect musicianship fit, I guess. An absolute hero, hints of worship in what I say are totally justified. When a total package guitarist is on your project want list, he should be at the top of it to do it, period.
Of note is also how effective his guitar logistics on stage was: he had handily near the stall with accoustic guitar to play passages in Venus and a stool with slide and e-bow which he used for effects in the new track The Killing Kind. Otherwise, there were no tech fireworks - one, rather minimalistic, pedalboard with basic effects and two guitars used (the red one and graphite one). The result: glorious. All in the hands, mind and the mood of a wizard. Wonderful.
Get all above mixed and meshed with classic rock hungry crowd of 800+, ranging in age from 17 to 67, constantly going apeshit during classics and chanting "U-F-O!!!" every now and again, and you can imagine that it was a hell of an exciting evening. It is a bit mind boggling to me in a way, because stricly in ageing and condition department UFO locates closely to how Deep Purple is these days: on the verge of falling apart just because of their core men are now being too old and too weak to do it anymore. Still, contrary to Purple, UFO win their cause. They still rock out and they are still able to excite and satisfy the crowd when experienced live. If they tour near you in promotion of "A Conspiracy Of Stars" - don't miss them out, you will enjoy it.
Set:
Mother Mary; Lights Out; Fight Night; Wonderland; Run Boy Run; Venus; Only You Can Rock Me; The Killing Kind; Burn Your House Down; Cherry; We Belong to the Night; Rock Bottom
Encore: Doctor Doctor, Shoot Shoot
Vinnie Moore - guitar; Phill Mogg - vocals; Paul Raymond - keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals; Andy Parker - drums; Rob De Luca - bass, backing vocals
(C), (P) Marcin Karski, 2015
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