21st Century Schizoid Band at the Mean Fiddler 31/10/03

Twelve months on and it’s Schizoid time again. Ian Wallace has replaced Michael Giles in the drummer’s seat, but the rest of the band is still there. I’d never seen Ian Wallace live, though I have heard a good deal of his work on record so I was looking forward to hearing how his different style would filter through the band’s performance.

The set list has developed since last year, A Man, A City still opens the evening, and the always raucous 21st Century Schizoid Man still brings the house down as the main set finale. In between, however, in comes Cirkus and Cadence and Cascade, together with the new, original piece, Catley’s Ashes penned by Jakko, and arranged to highlight Ian Wallace’s drumming skills.

And the difference a year makes is truly astounding. I was bowled away by the band’s performance last year, but this was a different order of magnitude. The order of the day for the 2002 tour was to recreate the music as it appears on record, or as close as can be managed live; a tight, highly structured and disciplined approach. But now, we have five musicians more at ease with each other’s abilities and with the music. The approach for 2003 is less ‘recreate and reproduce’ it is more ‘let’s see where this takes us’.

Each musician is highlighted in turn, to showcase his skills, but seamlessly, so that it appears to happen organically, naturally from the performance. The energy is still there as is the power. The structure of the performance is still in evidence but deftly hidden and the emphasis has moved to improvisation around themes. Leaning more heavily in the jazz-side of the material, but without losing sight of rock, the band pick up and just go for it. The arrangements are looser to allow more expression, more free exploration of the themes, and then, imperceptibly, they are pulled together again to bring us back to the base form of the music.

And then, all too quickly, the set is over. Two hours have been and gone and we could have gone on easily for another two.

But then the first encore and another surprise. To the delight of the small but enthusiastic audience, the band launches into Starless. An unexpected treat and most welcome. Starless was always heavily driven by the rhythm section underpinning the guitar and so it seemed this time as Mel Collins and Ian McDonald stood back appreciatively to listen to Wallace, Giles and Jakszyk as they ripped through the piece. But then, yet another surprise – the instrumental second phase of the piece has been rearranged for alto and tenor sax, which join and complement the guitar. Unexpected and awesome.

The only low of the evening was the disappointingly low turnout, although those who attended could not be faulted for their enthusiasm and appreciation.

London doesn’t deserve a band of this quality. But let’s hope the Schizoids don’t see it that way and come back again. And again.

21st Century Schizoid Band at the Mean Fiddler 31/10/03

Twelve months on and it’s Schizoid time again. Ian Wallace has replaced Michael Giles in the drummer’s seat, but the rest of the band is still there. I’d never seen Ian Wallace live, though I have heard a good deal of his work on record so I was looking forward to hearing how his different style would filter through the band’s performance.

The set list has developed since last year, A Man, A City still opens the evening, and the always raucous 21st Century Schizoid Man still brings the house down as the main set finale. In between, however, in comes Cirkus and Cadence and Cascade, together with the new, original piece, Catley’s Ashes penned by Jakko, and arranged to highlight Ian Wallace’s drumming skills.

And the difference a year makes is truly astounding. I was bowled away by the band’s performance last year, but this was a different order of magnitude. The order of the day for the 2002 tour was to recreate the music as it appears on record, or as close as can be managed live; a tight, highly structured and disciplined approach. But now, we have five musicians more at ease with each other’s abilities and with the music. The approach for 2003 is less ‘recreate and reproduce’ it is more ‘let’s see where this takes us’.

Each musician is highlighted in turn, to showcase his skills, but seamlessly, so that it appears to happen organically, naturally from the performance. The energy is still there as is the power. The structure of the performance is still in evidence but deftly hidden and the emphasis has moved to improvisation around themes. Leaning more heavily in the jazz-side of the material, but without losing sight of rock, the band pick up and just go for it. The arrangements are looser to allow more expression, more free exploration of the themes, and then, imperceptibly, they are pulled together again to bring us back to the base form of the music.

And then, all too quickly, the set is over. Two hours have been and gone and we could have gone on easily for another two.

But then the first encore and another surprise. To the delight of the small but enthusiastic audience, the band launches into Starless. An unexpected treat and most welcome. Starless was always heavily driven by the rhythm section underpinning the guitar and so it seemed this time as Mel Collins and Ian McDonald stood back appreciatively to listen to Wallace, Giles and Jakszyk as they ripped through the piece. But then, yet another surprise – the instrumental second phase of the piece has been rearranged for alto and tenor sax, which join and complement the guitar. Unexpected and awesome.

The only low of the evening was the disappointingly low turnout, although those who attended could not be faulted for their enthusiasm and appreciation.

London doesn’t deserve a band of this quality. But let’s hope the Schizoids don’t see it that way and come back again. And again.