Level 42 come to Wales!

A fool and his money are soon parted, so they say. But Level 42 were so good in Salford that I had to see them again.

My musical taste is quite varied, and I've never really been a fan of going to concerts, but in the last year I've seen Jamiroquai at the MEN Arena, Faithless at the CIA in Cardiff, and Level 42 twice. All this after a gap of 13 years since I saw the Shamen at Newport Leisure Centre on my 18th birthday!!!

Although the set list is identical, it's clear that they have been on the road for a few weeks now, and the performances have grown stronger as they've spent more time together.

There were two major differences between the Salford Lowry concert and last night at St David's Hall, Cardiff. First of all, St David's Hall is massive - too big in fact. The crowd are spread out in 12 separate sections which doesn't help the accoustics. The second difference was the crowd itself, who were far more lively and responsive than the previous gig.

A few people had started to dance during "Hot Water" but by the time the band rolled into Starchild a mosh pit of around three hundred 40-year-olds had formed in front of the stage. It was quite a sight!

All around the upper tiers people were on their feet (myself included) belting out "The sun goes down", "Running in the family", "Lessons in Love" and finally "Something about you". I just kept smiling all the way through as it was wonderful to see my favourite band produce a fantastic performance in front of a wonderfully appreciative crowd.

At the end of the encore, Mark King and (a very shy) Mike Lindup shook hands with every single member of the mosh pit before departing the stage, promising to see us next year.

Fantastic.

Set list in full.

Dive into the Sun
To be with you again
Hot Water
Rooted
World Machine
Retroglide
Leaving me now
Kansas City Milkman
Starchild
The Sun goes down
Running in the family
Lessons in Love
Something about you.
ENCORE
Sleep Talking
The Chinese Way

Level 42 Live!!

First things first, as Peter Kay says. The Salford Lowry is a fantastic venue, not a bad view in the place, comfortable seats and great acoustics. It’s a big place though, with more than one theatre, and we almost ended up seeing “Thatcher – the musical” (honestly!) before being directed by one of the many grey haired stewards.

Kenny Thomas was the support act. He crooned a few melodies which were pretty bland, before finishing with Thinking about your love and Outstanding, his major hits from the late 80’s/early 90’s. The crowd were polite enough but most sat in the bar, popping their heads in occasionally to see if L42 were on yet.

And then the opening chords of “Heaven in my Hands” were blasted over the speakers and everyone rushed in to take their seats. It was to be the only time we were to hear this, which was a shame. Then, we were aware of figures moving onto the darkened stage, and a long, thin red light shining horizontally. It was Mark King’s bass guitar!! The lights came up, and there he was, although for most fans the biggest thrill was to see Mike Lindup sat behind his stack of keyboards. The previous Level 42 tour was much the poorer for his absence.

They launched straight into “Dive into the sun”, the first track on the new album, Retroglide, and followed this with the crowd pleasing “To be with you again”. The standard was set. Mark King was, as ever, a great front man, sharing banter with the crowd and all the ladies who had started dancing at the front of the theatre. “Hot Water” was a big favourite, and the new album tracks such as “Rooted” and “Retroglide” also went down well.

But most of the assembled hoards (myself included) were there to hear the songs from, as Mark King put it “the good old days”. A rendition of “Leaving me now” was followed by “World Machine” and “Kansas City Milkman”, a track which was never a hit but was always a popular live track following its inclusion on the 1985 EP “A Physical Presence”.

They then ploughed through the main hits of the 1980’s, starting with “Star Child”, “The Sun goes down” (which got everyone dancing), “Running in the family”, “Lessons in Love” and then bringing the set to an end with a fantastic performance of “Something about you”.

The crowd cried for more. “What haven’t they played?” we thought. Children Say? Heaven in my Hands? Forever Now? Guaranteed? Well, frankly, we were to be disappointed. They came back out and performed another track from the new album, “Sleep Talking” which left the audience a bit flat. They managed to turn it around, though, by flying straight into “The Chinese Way” which demonstrated how King’s bass playing and Lindup’s vocals made the band such a success. A special mention should be made to Gary Husband on drums, who was drenched in sweat from the second track onwards, but still managed to put in a level of energy which would have had the Muppet’s ‘Animal’ watching with awe.

Then they left, and we filtered out into the drizzle of Salford. Should’ve paid for the parking before the concert, said my mate, would’ve saved queuing for ages. But everyone in the queue was singing “The Chinese Way” and were tapping their feet, so the bizarre spectacle kept us amused until we drove away.

Level 42 are back, and they were awesome. I was never lucky enough to see them live in the 80’s. But their musical abilities live on, as does the crowd’s affection for them. I’m off to see them in Cardiff at the end of the month!

The return of Level 42!!

I'm going to see the almost-totally-reformed Level 42 in the first night of their UK tour. Its at the Salford Lowry tomorrow night. For all those die-hard fans out there (and to still support them about 20 years after their hey-day, you must be die-hard really) I'll have a review of the gig here next week.

In the meantime, I bought the new Level 42 album this week, which marks their first new material for 12 years. Mike Lindup is back to join Mark King and the bands second drummer, Gary Husband, who themselves reunited in 2002.

For those of you who have never heard of Level 42, or don't think you have, let me brief you. Mark King. Bass Guitar. Very fast hands. Does that ring a bell? Their biggest selling single was "Lessons in Love" which reached number 3 in the UK singles charts in June 1986. However, probably their most famous track was "Running in the family", from the album of the same name, which still receives a lot of airplay today in numerous "Guess the year" competitions which are run on local radio.

My personal favourite is "Something about you" , the video for which saw Mark King dressed as an evil clown which used to terrify and fascinate me. And before you ask "who do they sound like?" they don't sound like anyone. Which has probably been Level 42's biggest problem. They rose to prominence during the New Romantic period of the early 80's and continued to do well during the Stock Aitken and Waterman dominated late 80's. But their jazz/funk sound was totally unique to anything else which was being produced around them.

"Retroglide" is the title of the new release, and in many ways it has more in common with the early Pursuit of Accidents than the pop-oriented Running in the Family. It's fairly obvious to me, despite my devotion to the band, that they are unlikely to score a top ten hit in the singles charts, but the album should sell well.

With this in mind, the band have gone back to their funk/jazz/fusion roots and produced an album unrestricted by the need for a commercially successful single. "Rooted" is a standout track, as is the downloadable single "The Way Back Home". The album is jump-started by the lively "Dive into the sun" and the album track "Retroglide" is a melodious foot tapper.

The only problem which this album presented was a realisation of my own age. I was 10 when I bought "Leaving me now" and 21 years on my musical tastes have mellowed slightly. Therefore, it's no surprise that the more slow and soulful tracks were my favourites, whilst the uptempo strains of "Sleep Talking" had me scanning forward.

However, it's great to have Level 42 producing new material, and I can't wait to see them live tomorrow!!