Stereo MC's - Connected in Manchester
It’s August 14 1993 and I’m stood in a field with 90.000 other people. It’s been a long day so far; however we still have a while to go before the Irish group of the moment take stage. But before the main event the Stereo MC’s take the stage. And boy did they take the stage. I look up at the spots guy who is in a tower behind me. He is definitely swaying to the left…then to the right. At that moment I knew I liked the Stereo’s.
The next time I caught them was in ‘95, at the Manchester Arena with the Happy Mondays. Again they proved that they could bring an energy and presence to the stage. In fact I left 10 Minds into the main acts performance. The MC’s had blown them away.
Fast forward to May 2015 and I’m in the Scala in London watching Rob and co do their stuff. It been a long journey but tonight’s show at the Manchester Academy prove that the MC’s have longevity and Rob’s not about to hang up his orange beanie just yet.
As the backing singers Cath and Aina take up their positions on stage it’s obvious from the audience reaction that tonight’s going to be special.
‘Fade Away’ is the first track. It’s a classic tune that gets everyone dancing straight away. This is followed by an onslaught of seriously addictive tunes that include ‘Everything’, Pressure and the classic ‘Connected’, that sounds as fresh as it did back in the early 90’s.
What amazes me is the pace of which Rob and co. perform. The two girls will definitely never need to sign up to Zumba as each night is probably equal to a weeks’ worth of gym visits. Rob never keeps still. He is constantly moving around the stage, sometimes at an alarming rate. Owen the percussionist never stops on the skins, but never seems to break into a sweat. Nick is the only one who hardly moves, cool and collective as he manages all the beats and samples behind his PC mixers.
But the highlight is when Rob invites a female audience member up on stage, who the shares vocal duties and gets down to some fancy dance moves with the girls. She looks absolutely thrilled to be there. I doubt she will forget that moment in a hurry.
We are also treated to a different version of ‘Step it Up’. I suppose some song just need rearranging to keep things fresh, and to be honest it works. In fact there is nothing in the 21 song set that disappoints.
I had previously attended the Leeds show on this tour and been blown away, and attended the Holmfirth show the night after, but this performance was something special. And I think the band thought so as well.
The stereo MC’s are still on tour. Go see them, they don’t disappoint. I’d like to thank Mark, the tour manager, for being so kind and allowing me AAA at the shows. It’s been a real pleasure.
Words and Photos Lawrence Taylor
COMMENTS
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Nice review, thanks!
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thank you
