KIM BOLTON ON A BLIND EGO TRIP

Well after a hideous flight which landed me in Gatwick way behind schedule and after being given the keys to a hire car which did not include Sat-Nav (despite my having specifically requested the inclusion of this girly driving aid in my booking), I did eventually manage to get to the venue (with the aid of a map and a selection of contradictory directions collected at various junctions and roundabouts along the way - who needs technology!). I just managed to get the back of my hand stamped with something illegible as proof of having paid to get in as the support band were leaving the stage - so hey, don’t ask me what they were like as I didn’t even get to hear their name!

I managed to squeeze my way up to the bar (OK, I’m lying a bit there; the turn out was unfortunately rather disappointing) to get myself a drink and catch the eye and gossip of some long lost friends while the Blind Ego guys got ready to play there stuff.

I was surprised when they kicked off with Obsession with Paul Wrightson instead of John Mitchell on vocals as I had expected but it worked just as well, if not slightly better than the version on the album. Having said that, the thing I noticed about the whole evening is that the album sounded a lot better live than it did on the IPod in the airport lounge!

Paul, in fine fettle (I was told that the two previous evenings had been mere warm ups compared to tonight’s performance) went on to sing Mirror. This is far from being my favourite track but one that would certainly have warmed up the crowd back in my home town. They went on to perform a new song which went by the title of Disturbed, but if I’m honest it didn’t leave a lasting enough impression on me for me to be able to tell you folks whether or not it was any good (Hey, I’d had a hard day and a few drinks on an empty stomach hadn’t helped!).

The next track was Sugar for the Ape an RPWL cover from the album Trying to Kiss the Sun which I decided to purchase after the show on the basis of the fact that I’d liked this song a lot.

Black Despair was next up and the atmosphere it created had me hurtling back in time to The Visitor, yes, definitely a hint of the melancholy strains of The Hanging Tree seeping through the seams of that one, and seeing Paul Wrightson doing his stuff on stage had me momentarily in another time and place. Let’s face it, one of my main reasons for making the trip over was to see and not just hear the man back in action. I used to be a big Arena fan, but that all went out of the window after seeing a couple of dire live performances by Paul Wrightson’s ‘replacement’ Rob Sowden.

The instrumental Moorland followed while Wrightson left the stage to be replaced in the next song by John Mitchell who went into the Kino sound-a-likey song Don’t Ask Me Why. I’ve always had a soft spot for this guy’s ‘melting-you-softly’ voice, in fact after the break with Wrightson, I could never understand why Arena didn’t just get him to take over on vocals instead of getting in that……. OK, let’s not go down that track again.

He then went on to perform Break You and, in perfect keeping with post-Wrightson Arena tradition, had failed to learn the words; I caught him sneaking a glimpse at what was evidently a print out of the lyrics on more than one occasion. He didn’t know the words to the RPWL Roses either, but I’ll forgive him that one as I later learnt it had been a last minute addition to the set list and had not been performed on either of the two previous evenings.

Wrightson was back to perform what he described as his favourite track from the album Moon and Sun which also appeared to be a favourite with the ladies in the audience.

At this point the band went on to perform a couple of Queensryche covers which had me heaving a sigh of relief; I was so pleased they didn’t go for any Arena covers - with Mitchell, Wrightson and Jowitt in the house, that would have been just so corny. The Q’ryche covers were fantastic and deserved a far bigger venue and crowd than was available to do them justice.

The last Blind Ego track for the evening was Forbidden to Remain, this number always really gets to me - did it really last the full 10 minutes? It was over long before I wanted it to be….

As an encore the guys went on to do Deep Purple’s Perfect Strangers which was a great, fun way to wind up a fantastic evening.

Outside after the show I heard various comments and discussions concerning the Blind Ego sound, which was classified by one person I won’t name as Kirena . It may well be a Kino-Arena hybrid - but who cares, just as long as you enjoy listening to it, and I for one certainly did.

Kim Bolton