| MIKE HARRISON BAND CONCERT REVIEW
|
MIKE HARRISON BAND / QUASIMODO, BERLIN July 8th 2005
A trim and fit-looking Mike Harrison, fresh from the
rejuvenated Spooky Tooth gig in Hamburg last year,
presented the Mike Harrison Band at the Quasimodo Club
in Berlin on July 8th 2005, and what a revelation it
was. Having recently completed a string of dates in
his regular slot as guest with the Hamburg Blues Band,
he was clearly raring to go; the band (two keyboards,
guitar, bass and drums) were supremely tight and
rehearsed, and the two well-chosen sets ran through
Harrisons entire career from the VIPs via Spooky
Tooth to his solo efforts, as well a a few favourite
covers.
Harrisons love of Ray Charles was evident in the
half-a-dozen Charles songs included , but his mod
roots and the heady days of Spooky Tooths art-pop
werent overlooked either. And whoever put the song
list together clearly has impeccable taste (see
below). The second set was the killer blow, featuring
a few Spooky Tooth classics and some overlooked gems
(namely Wings On My Heart and Moriah) and a
re-arranged Better By You that reminded us all of what
a truly great band they were... Time for some
long-overdue re-appraisal.
The black-shirted Harrison seemed genuinely surprised
that the almost-full club greeted him with huge
affection and enthusiasm. Despite the relative age of
the songs, this was no journey through nostalgia but a
contemporary, kicking rock band with one of the
greatest rock singers of all time still of the top of
his game. It makes you wonder where in the rock
firmament he would be if he HAD joined Deep Purple
when Ritchie Blackmore asked him to?
The band (remnants of Berlin band Interzone) were
Mischka (piano/voc), Axel Fuhrmann (organ/voc), Leeman
(guitar) Trotter Schmidt (bass/voc) and Hansi Wallbaum
(drums).
Sask Turner
SET 1
I Wanna Be Free
Thats My Woman
Stagger Lee
In A Dream
Ramblin Rose
Slow Down
Night and Day
Sinners Prayer
Fast-talking, Slow-walking, Good-looking Woman
Saturday Morning
Real Good Thing
SET 2
The Wrong Time
Waiting For The Wind
Wings On My Heart
Feelin Bad
Better By You
Moriah
Maverick Woman Blues
Shaky Ground
Jealous Kind
We Can Work It Out
I Am The Walrus
ENCORES
That Was Only Yesterday
What Id Say
This review was sent by Saskara Turner saskaraturner@yahoo.com