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DEKE LEONARD’S ICEBERG & THE GREEN RAY LIVE – The Plough, Wood Street Saturday 17th November 2007
Well, “Where Do I Begin” ? Where else & With whom else, could you have received such a cracking evening’s entertainment on such a foul, chilled night – all for the princely sum of £10 and reasonably priced ale for The Chaps & “A Glass Of Wine For The Ladies” ?
First sighting of “This Years’ Model” for Iceberg – will Deke have maintained his recruiting powers post Breeze ? Before we get to the main course, reference just has to be made to a “rocking from the word go” hour long support set from The Ray. Not a moment to waste on indulgence, they hit their stride and groove and never let up. Rapturous applause throughout the set and a room full of contented punters – some maybe a tad too “contented” – “More of that story later” (Thank you Fiona – they tell me I missed a good turn on Children In Need when Mdm Bruce did a dance routine from Chicago – Apologies, we’re getting into Brucie & Tess territory !).
Normally, I highlight the various players and their respective moments in any Ray set – that would be pointless and churlish for the set they delivered on Saturday evening. They all seemed to be on the top of their game. Of course, there were still passages when one Rayster or another would excel. The set may have included familiar titles but some of the arrangements on the night took matters to an altogether higher-level. It was great to hear “Everything Is Free” getting an airing – next time the band records there ought to be a version of this as it’s only a few notches behind “All My Tears”.
OK – so just how did “Raymond” shape up ? Pretty good I’d say, pretty damn good. Most of Deke’s acidic witticisms were “reserved” for Bob “The Bastard” Richards – but it was all good nature joshing among the Icebergers. Deke also “thanked” Richard Treece for “raising the bar” as regards his performance in the Ray’s set. Now, whether that had any impact at all on Iceberg I couldn’t say, but they joyously romped through a set that was not much different from that of a year ago. “Tahitian Thunder” is up there as classic Leonard. “Map of India” never disappoints. Past glories from both “Iceberg” & “Kamikaze” were covered plus Deke’s Man classics of “Daughter Of The Fireplace” & “The Ride & The View”.
Time to explain the reference above to “too contented” a punter – well a Ray devotee engaged in some heckling from the back of the room during the Iceberg set – to a distracting degree with his calls for more Green Ray and Richard Treece. An embarrassing situation for someone so modest as Richard, or a band such as The Ray.
Iceberg finished with an encore of “Hard Way To Live” and that got me thinking as to whether there would be any mileage in Deke ever doing a “Looking Back” set for the original “Iceberg” release. There were some great and varied moments on that release – all played out by members of the greater Man Family. It would be interesting to see if some of the “lost” classics of “Nothing Is Happening”, “Lisa” and “Jesse” could be dusted off for a sentimental airing. Over to the Man himself, for consideration, or dismissal.
Thank You and Good Night to All Concerned. |