I had been hoping to see these guys play live for some time having forever carried with me the disappointment of never getting to see the late great Captain Beefheart. Consequently I wasted no time in ordering a ticket when I heard that John 'Drumbo' French, Denny 'Feelers Rebo' Walley, Mark 'Rockette Morton' Boston, Eric Klerks and Craig Bunch would be playing in my home city on 11 March. French, Boston and Walley were all former sidemen of Beefheart and Walley additionally spent quite some time working with another late, great, Frank Zappa.
Originally planned for Cluny 2, demand for tickets led to this gig being moved into the sister venue next door. There may have been flurries of snow and icy winds blowing off the River Tyne but the band wasted no time in getting the enthusiastic audience nicely warmed up. Former band drummer, French is now the front man and has adopted the persona of Beefheart, taking on the howling, growling vocals, playing harp, soprano sax, a bit of guitar and adopting Beefhearts' mannerisms of arm waving and finger pointing.
First number was 'My Human Gets Me Blues' followed by a host of other crowd pleasers which included 'Hot Head', the Willie Dixon/Bo Diddley song 'Diddy Wah Diddy' and a rocking, scorching version of 'When It Blows It Stacks' which had the crowd yelling their approval.
After a fifteen minute break, 'Drumbo' lived up to his nickname by opening with a drum solo that showed he has lost none of his talent behind the kit. He remained on drums for the following instrumental and then Bunch took over once more as the band delivered more favourites including 'Hair Pie Bake 1', 'Steal Softly Thru Snow', 'Carson City (Owed T'Alex)', 'Click Clack', 'Sun Zoom Spark' and 'Moonlight On Vermont'. At one point French asked the audience if anyone present had not heard any of their material. Only one person confessed to which French replied, 'You must find it strange'. To the uninitiated, strange it must seem to hear this free form poetry set to weirdly disjointed rhythms. But it is strangely compelling. For the most part, the band were preaching to the already converted which seemed to come as something of a surprise. French explained their reason for not having visited Newcastle for some considerable time. They had been given the advice, 'Don't go to Newcastle. No one will like your stuff there.' Gladly the crowd proved that advice wrong to the delight of the band members who fed off the adulation and raised their game even further.
By the time of the finale, people were dancing in front of the stage. A superb version of 'Floppy Boot Stomp' had French stomping his way around the stage and the fingers of 'Rockette Morton' who was dressed like an over-age space cadet, hammering down on his bass strings. At the end the band said their thanks, took their bows and left the stage to cheers and whistles of approval.
As I write these words I have Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band on the hi-fi and a cheesy grin on my face. It was that kind of night.
Oh and I also got 'Drumbo' to sign my copy of his great book, 'Beefheart: Through The Eyes Of Magic'!
For those of you who must know such things, the full setlist was:
My Human Gets Me Blues
Low Yo-Yo Stuff
Diddy Wah Diddy
Bass Solo
Clouds (No Birdies)
When It Blows It Stacks
Hot Head
Dr Dark
Circumstances
Drum Solo
On Tomorrow
Alice In Blunderland
Suction Prints
Hair Pie Bake 1
Steal Softly Thru Snow
Carson City (Owed T'Alex)
Click Clack
Sun Zoom Spark
Moonlight On Vermont
Big Eyed Beans From Venus
Floppy Boot Stomp
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