ForeverAutumn
06-13-2011, 08:08 AM
It’s not very often that I come out of a concert feeling let down, but that’s how I felt after Supertramp’s show here last night.
Low key was an understatement. I think that someone should have given Rick Davies a big pinch to wake him up. I know these guys are getting older and touring is tiresome, but I don’t think that I’ve ever seen such an uninspired performance. No…not just performance…show. It just looked like very little thought was put into the entire show. There was no lighting to speak of. A video screen that was covered with closed curtains more often than it was open and being used. And when it was open, the videos were the same clips that were used 30 years ago. With the exception of the train video for Rudy (which I love) I just thought, why bother?
Rick Davies did not address the audience once. John Helliwell had the honour of playing front man, but the few times that he did talk to the audience it was so obviously scripted (insert city here) that it didn’t sound sincere.
There were several missed opportunities to invite the audience to sing along and make a big deal of it…you know hold out the microphone to them and that sort of stuff, but it didn’t happen. The audience sang along anyway, but there was no effort to engage them.
They took a bow and left the stage before coming back for an encore. But then after the encore they all just slipped off stage while it was dark and they were gone. That was it. Hit the houselights.
The music was good, the band was tight, we had great (and expensive!) seats…all the things that should have made for a great show. But it just left me flat. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a live show that I didn’t love.
I've seen Roger Hodgson's solo show a few times in the last few years and I would happily go see him again. But I wouldn't pay to see Supertramp again. Not unless Hodgson was with them. And that's not ever likely to happen.
Low key was an understatement. I think that someone should have given Rick Davies a big pinch to wake him up. I know these guys are getting older and touring is tiresome, but I don’t think that I’ve ever seen such an uninspired performance. No…not just performance…show. It just looked like very little thought was put into the entire show. There was no lighting to speak of. A video screen that was covered with closed curtains more often than it was open and being used. And when it was open, the videos were the same clips that were used 30 years ago. With the exception of the train video for Rudy (which I love) I just thought, why bother?
Rick Davies did not address the audience once. John Helliwell had the honour of playing front man, but the few times that he did talk to the audience it was so obviously scripted (insert city here) that it didn’t sound sincere.
There were several missed opportunities to invite the audience to sing along and make a big deal of it…you know hold out the microphone to them and that sort of stuff, but it didn’t happen. The audience sang along anyway, but there was no effort to engage them.
They took a bow and left the stage before coming back for an encore. But then after the encore they all just slipped off stage while it was dark and they were gone. That was it. Hit the houselights.
The music was good, the band was tight, we had great (and expensive!) seats…all the things that should have made for a great show. But it just left me flat. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a live show that I didn’t love.
I've seen Roger Hodgson's solo show a few times in the last few years and I would happily go see him again. But I wouldn't pay to see Supertramp again. Not unless Hodgson was with them. And that's not ever likely to happen.