Last Saturday's show brought back memories of the first gig I went to on 8 March 1976. Below is a translation of the review in Het Parool. Hope you like it!
Vilified by some, worshipped by others: that's Steve Harley all over. A person who can be interpreted in many ways owing to his sayings and behaviour. But one thing is clear: the first show of his Dutch tour, yesterday night in Carré [Amsterdam] was solid as a rock.
Harley is often accused of being a megalomaniac. Indeed it is rather pretentious to precede a performance by Ravel's Bolero, but my initial mistrust evaporated when Harley and Cockney Rebel used all their wiles: a feeling for drama and passionate surrender by the singing protagonist, immense musical skill of the band and a surprising stage-setting of it all.
To start with the last aspect: the light show (later added with film images) was - without any exaggeration - a feast for the eye as far as colour, variation and speed were concerned. Harley himself added to the scene by wearing some sort of exotic monk's frock, exuberantly performing the opening song 'Don't go, don't cry': the start of an extremely energetic show. Harley's leaping voice was not optimum all the time, but his band provided immediate listening joy. Johnny Partridge, the second guitarist which brought the total number of musicians to six, created plenty of room for guitarist Jim Cregan to fire away his sometimes Spanish-like solos. And with Duncan MacKay, who practised witchcraft with his keyboards, he formed a duo that framed the basic sound with élan and samples of nimble-fingeredness. Thus the band was the immaculate motor behind theatrical Harley. Particularly during the lengthily extended versions of Sebastian and Death Trip Harley's drama and that musical display of power stunningly blended together. The same can be said about "Mad, Mad Moonlight", the final encore. (reviewer: Jim van Alphen)
