Concert Report by Tim MSG at O2 Academy Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K. December 17, 2009 Added on 12/18/2009
Hi Ritchie,
I went to see MSG at Sheffield last night, braving snow and ice as winter bites here in the UK - and I'm really pleased I made the effort! It was a bit of dream fulfilment for me, as I've waited 20-odd years to see the classic MSG line-up (or as close as it's feasibly possible to get these days). The 2 support acts were actually ok - Fury (UK) probably better to my ears than openers Power Quest, but both made it worthwhile to stake out a good position close to the stage early on in proceedings. Quite a lengthy delay followed before MSG finally took to the stage, and the (packed) crowd were getting restless and slightly nervous that something was amiss. Thankfully, through the gloom we eventually saw a roadie lead Michael on and he blasted out the opening notes of 'Ride On My Way' to rapturous applause. The whole show was great, with the set-list following that of late, with Gipsy Lady being added as an encore (complete witha roadie providing a 'galloping horse' effect into one of Chris Slade's drum mics!) Michael in particular looked slim, happy and healthy - he even smilingly let some youngsters in the front row strum his guitar (whilst he held the chord) at one point. Whilst Gary was a bit low in the mix for the first couple of numbers, he sang great - wringing every inch of emotion from a classic rendition of 'Lost Horizons' amongst others. There was much comic interplay between Gary and Chris Glen whilst Wayne Findlay put in an energetic performance, covering keyboards, second guitar and powerful backing vocals. The man at the back, Chris Slade proved to be a worthy stand-in for Cozy, delivering a sharp but heavy beat throughout. Sadly the late-start meant that they ran out of time and couldn't do the final encore track 'Doctor Doctor', but to my ears, the lengthy classic rendition of 'Rock Bottom' provided a great ending to a wonderful night.