Peter Hammill with Stuart Gordon
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
February 20, 2003

Red Ovation Guitar:

Comfortable
If I Could
Just A Child

Brown Washburn Guitar:

The Habit of The Broken Heart
(On Tuesday She Used To Do) Yoga
Bareknuckle Trade

Grand Piano:

Easy To Slip Away
Just Good Friends
Bubble
A Way Out
Traintime

Red Ovation:

Time For A Change
Patient
Modern

Encore:

(Peter Hammill moved to center stage and introduced Hugh Banton....moved to grand piano and started "Still Life" then.... David Jackson, appeared...and Guy Evans on Tambourine) then....

Still Life

From Ben (flew from Sweden):

PH came out prior to the encore, and said "From now on he would be a record company manager, more than a performer", and introduced Hugh as 'a new signing of FIE', but didn't name him, then suddenly someone else appeared from the left (David Jackson)- "I wasn't sure what was happening" he recognized Hugh Banton, but couldn't believe it, then David Jackson and Guy Evans.



PH had much body language during the song, and Hugh's playing was extraordinary. "I've never heard piano on 'Still Life' like this."

VdGG members embraced each other afterwards..fans rushing to shake hands with PH. Peter came back afterwards and told the audience to go!

Thanks Ben, witnessing music history as he said with a friend seeing a Peter Hammill concert for the first time.

(Thanks again to both Ben and Palinurus (aka Ken) for live chat room reports) and e-mails from Phil, Tony F, and Keith)

4 more photos taken by Phil Smart are HERE Thanks!

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From Andy W in the UK that travelled to all 5 UK shows:

Well it involved drink - that's all I'm going to say on the matter at the moment, and being weak-willed I lapsed but I am, after all, only human... It started on Saturday with a pleasant drive up the roller-coaster Roman road ride of the A68, turning left at Corbridge/Hexham to pick Hannah up at Newby East near Carlisle. From there we walloped it up to Glasgow and with Hannah's excellent navigation (she used to live in Helensburgh so knows Glagow well) we found the gig in a splendid converted church with a quite imposing steeple. Having divested the foyer of it's poster, my deftness and affrontery quite startling H, we set off to find some food. Again her knowledge of where the decent eateries are proved valuable and we had a hearty meal of sage & pancetta wrapped chicken on mustard mash (me) and lamb & red pesto lasagne (H) washed down with a lovely warm South African Cabernet and wended our way back to the gig. It was of course jolly good, though a bit chilly in the old church, but was over far too soon so we went to the Merchant City to take in a pub or two, ending up in a rather smart place called, ahem, CafeBeer - which was much more prepossessing than it's name. Headed off down the road getting back to H's at about 2.00am - dropped her off and got home about 4.00am having been stopped by the police on the way, though fortunately for me they didn't check my front tyres which were bald as a very bald thing indeed...

Up at noon and having completed my ablutions and breakfasted, visited the pub and met up with Andy & Martin and arranged to set off at about 5.30. After a few beers had a lovely Sunday dinner with Andy, Hilary and Ami, and Ami's pal Gemma (a child who has no fat glands or cells or something so will be forever willowy when she grows up), including a toothsome sticky toffee pudding and more red wine. Collected by Dave my old mate from work at 5.30 and set off for a boys night out in Manchester. Martin had a hip flask. Andy had a hip flask. I had a half full bottle of Scapa, and some glasses, so we had a few snifters on the way down. Then we found the Lowry Centre, to the sound of 4 jaws hitting the floor - it's an amazing sight, so modern and sparkly, and inside is even better. Brilliant use of space and lights and glass. We now had 3/4 of an hour before the gig so hit the bar - Stella even at the startling price of £2.70 a pint managed to slide down rather well, as did the Highland Park at £5 something a double, so had a nice warm glow as we entered the auditorium. This was then bolstered by Martin's flask which was passed between us over the next half hour or so. After an hour, Andy & Martin went out as it was all a bit much for them, so i followed and found them at the bar so joined them for another beer, before dragging them back in kicking & screaming (not really) for the rest of the set. As it was only 10.00pm when we got out, it seemed only proper to visit the bar again and much alcohol was consumed and we got chatting to another group from Middlesbrough and some from Manchester - my memory starts getting hazy here and some parts of the jigsaw have been explained to me today - I remember standing talking to these really nice folk we'd met, and then Peter Hammill appeared and was chatting away to some people quite near us. Andy & Martin started to try to get me to go and talk to him but I declined, though apparently I was persuaded shortly afterwards that it would be a good idea. Andy & Martin wheeled me over to where Peter was standing and I then entered into a lengthy discussion with him, shook his hand and thanked him, and rejoined my group with a stupid grin on my face, advising them all that "I've been talking to Peter". AND I CAN'T REMEMBER A MINUTE OF IT!!!!!!!

Left the Lowry at about 11.30 and got home at about 1.00am, and was poured out of Dave's car, having deposited a considerable amount of malt in his passenger footwell, having kept hold of the cork but let the bottle go - yes, I know it's the wrong order... Still he does say that his car smells glorious today. So there you go - two days in the life of a Peter Hammill groupie. Only 3 gigs to go...though more sober i would tend to imagine. Back Friday - hope you managed to conquer the ironing mountain, and light has once again returned to Dorset.

_______________________________________________ <

Not sure where this first note came from, the rest are from ph7 list:

Dont have internet access so couldnt share until today!

I was on the verge of leaving Peter Hammill's gig (which was great btw) early as I was supposed to be helping my partner with our own gig (Dureforsog from Denmark, who were by all accounts pretty stunning) but luckily ran into Fred Tomsett fleeing the merchandise stand he was looking after, who shouted 'DONT GO! I've just seen Hugh Banton backstage!!!'

You should have seen the crowd transform from well behaved 40 somthings when Hugh came on stage... then half way through, Jackson saunters on... then when Guy Evans shyly crept to the back armed with tambourine everyone leapt to their feet and screamed and made fists like maniacs whilst their spouses looked on in horror/amazement. Great version of Still Life, and at the end the lights came on and most of the audience stood and clapped and screamed for two solid minutes... never seen anything like it ..eventually PH had to come onstage and say... sorry, thats it... until next time... Sean Organ understood (a little jealously)

ph7:

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Phil in Spain

For about an hour and a half this evening I sat through the most disappointing PH gig I have ever been to. It was very perplexing. Although The Voice is still capable of tremendous things, as he demonstrated from time to time, he seemed to be lacking energy - he was seated throughout - and his performance seemed to highlight the tendency towards melodrama and histrionics ("right, I've just done the 20 seconds of tormented shouting, now I'd better do that sotto voce growl, and then I can do a few clipped, slooooooow spoken bits etc, then I can repeat that pattern until the end of the song"). Why, I wondered, didn't he pack in the mannered delivery and just *sing* it straight?

For me, he seemed to lack conviction, even on songs that I normally find very moving ("A Way Out", "If I Could" etc). I have been a more or less loyal follower for 25 years, so I know that with PH it's a case of in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer. For someone who pushes the limits, consistent brilliance is not always guaranteed. One bad gig isn't going to consign him to the musical rubbish heap, of course, but nevertheless you hope for more than a pantomime Hammill.

Oh, but then things began to draw to a close, and the intensity and commitment were suddenly cranked up to 11: "Traintime", "Modern", "Patient" were superb (I even appreciated Stuart's contributions, and I'm not known for being a great fan). End of set.

Back for the encore and Peter introduced himself as the Fie! Record Company Executive, welcoming on stage his "new signing", who just happened to know a few of the songs - Hugh Banton. Surprise surprise, huge applause greeted this second grey-haired musician onto the stage. The three of them launched into "Still Life", this time with Peter standing at the microphone, unencumbered by any instruments. The difference was astonishing. He should be prohibited from sitting on a stool, except when he's at the piano, forthwith and forever more. This was an astonishing performance, not just because it recalled times past, but because it was a magnificent rendition of one of the essential songs in the canon. And Peter sang the first verse with such passion, it was awesome. At the end of the verse he retreated into the shadows at the back of the stage, and on walked a familiar beret, beard and two saxes - Jaxon himself! More applause as DJ got into the spirit of the piece.

Finally, as I realised that I had been waiting for about 25 years to see this again, Guy Evans took the stage, albeit with just a tambourine (I suppose if a full drum kit had been set up on the stage it would rather have ruined the surprise), as the classic VDGG line-up, augmented by Stuart, played out the rest of the song. This was not an indulgent exercise in nostalgia, but rather it was proof of the enduring excellence of this band. Timeless, in the best sense of the word.

I had not been expecting a gift like this, I was shaking with emotion at the end and still am as I write. After several minutes of unquenchable applause, Peter came back on stage to apologise that there were no more songs to be played that evening. But, did my ears deceive me when I thought I heard him say that they (plural) would be back next time? We can only hope so with all our might.

In the past five months, I have seen three of my favourite bands reform on the three stages of London's South Bank - The Bible, The Beat, and now, least expected of all, VDGG. Blimey, life's almost worth living, isn't it!

Sorry to gush, folks, but it's not every day that something like this happens!

------------------------------ Andy K in UK:

Well, I can't say I felt it was one of his better ones....but what a finale! I thought it started out well, and then hit a rut when he did "Just a Child", one of my least faves from Clutch (heavy-handed, obvious and dull). After that, I felt a lot of the songs lacked focus and drive, and drifted far too often into a loose morass in which Stuart Gordon's playing ---- for the first time in ages --- really began to annoy me. Each song seemed to have it's own "avant garde" section and that, along with the choice of set list, began to turn the show into a soup of chords and violin jamming. Even "Time for a Change" seemed to lose its way at one point. things picked up for me with "Traintime" (always a winner) and by then it was all over (it must say something, I should admit, that the concert seemed to fly by). A cracking "Modern" -- this is one of those songs that always left me cold, but is fast turning into a live fave.

And then.....well, what can be said? A humorous introduction, Hugh Banton at the piano, Still Life - one of my all-time favourite Vdgg songs-- the sight of PH singing without piano or guitar in his hands (I'm not sure I've ever seen that) and the slow introduction of Jacskon, strolling on playing two saxophones simultaneously, the sound of a tambourine, and on comes Guy Evans. Suddenly, they're all there. The song ends, the entire audience leaps to its collective feet, cheering and whooping the likes of which I've never seen, continuing long after the house lights have come up to such an extent that PH himself has to come out and assure everyone that the show really is over.

All in all, it didn't live up to the Guardian review, or even the last time I saw him at the QEH, or the Saturday matinee at the Lyric, but the finale had me drifting out into the night assured that life was good. Which is weird, considering it was a Peter Hammill concert. ______________________________________________________

From Sean in UK:

Vdgg on stage together - well if you weren't there you should know (despite what Alan sent earlier in his, and my and Fred's names!) that the moment didn't last long - Guy and David only came on for the second half of the final song. The main musical benefit in Still Life was hearing Hugh playing behind Peter on grand piano - and as has been already remarked on, seeing PH freed up from worrying about chords and timing so that he could just sing.

Seeing him just standing there, right hand held up and twitching expressively on his chest front took me straight back to '76. When David came on it was lovely to see him - although he was none too loud in the mix from where I sat- he gave some typical Jackson horn blasts and then on came Guy with tambourine (!) - hanging in the background by the piano mike. So more of a symbolic moment than a full musical one - all 4 (5 with SG) were only on stage together for a few minutes. But we were gobsmacked. Re the gig itself - well I saw the last 3 of this tour - and Worcester is the one I will remember most (barring QEH encore!). PH in such a fine mood - joking back at the crowd - and thus encouraging people to shout all kinds of off-the-cuff nonsense at him - which he seemed to enjoy.

Plus seeing/hearing him play *what's it worth* complete with in-song tuning and de-tuning of a string to get that sitar kind of effect. a wonderful gig - lovely stuff.

Sean