Chris Rea

It’s rare that I attend gigs where sitting down is the only choice but that’s the way it always is at Manchester Apollo when Chris Rea comes to town and there was no exception for this, the Farewell Tour.

The music kicked off with Paul Casey from Northern Ireland. He readily admitted he’d never played to an audience of this size but you wouldn’t have realised had he not confessed. His distinctive voice captured everybody’s attention throughout. His cheeky patter, with no attempting to hide the blatant plugs for his album ‘Songs in Open Tuning’, surprisingly made him all the more endearing. In this instance the label on the ticket ‘and special guest’ was well deserved and it won’t be long before that title will only be found underneath his own gold-embossed name.

Chris and his band came on stage to reverent applause but I was disappointed that I didn’t recognise the first song. I suppose it’s inevitable; I only ‘discovered’ Chris around 7 years ago, and I’ve had quite a lot of catching up to do. A collection was released last October containing 11 CD’s, 1 DVD, artwork, photography and a book. It would appear that I still have a lot of listening to undertake.

Despite my ignorance, the sounds filling the Apollo were moving and it wasn’t long before the familiar refrains of ‘Julia’ merged with the more recent blues influenced sounds. I certainly wasn’t alone; the audience shared my glee in hearing some older material and their enthusiasm notably lifted.

The set continued mixing the old and new, although I couldn’t’ help but notice there seemed to be less passion in this set than during Chris’ previous two visits to the Apollo. The voice and the sounds were there but there was still a certain something missing. Some numbers saw a set of retro-style lamps descend over the musicians, reminiscent of bygone eras, only to give into the modern extravagant lighting displays we’re all too accustomed too.

As the set came to its climax the lights dimmed, bringing a dark and fiery glow, alerting anybody who hadn’t caught on that Road to Hell was about to begin. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing this live three times and each time I have been astounded at the sounds that Chris Rea teases from his guitar. In complete awe, I founds myself closing my eyes, feeling regret; it could be last time Road to Hell is ever performed live. To listen to a recording does not do this song justice.

The end of the set featured those older tracks, bringing on clapping and ‘yeah, yeah yeah-ing’ before two predictable, but nevertheless wonderful, standing encores. So now it’s farewell to Chris Rea and best wishes for his forthcoming venture with The Fire Flies. In the meantime, I’ll be listening to Blue Guitars.

FUTURE GIGS

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