Body and Soul

Saving Me
When Daylight Goes To Town
Mother Mary
Let it Roll
I’m a Loser
Hell Driver
Cherry
Only You Can Rock Me
Ain’t No Baby
Love to Love
Mystery Train
Too Hot To Handle
Lights Out

Encores:

Rock Bottom
Shoot Shoot
Doctor Doctor (Warsaw only)

Strange title you might say as for the review of a rock’n’roll show. What soulful may be there? Well, this band is a combination. Two way combination I should say. Andy Parker, Paul Raymond and Rob De Luca are what I call the body. They embody the elements I connote with the body, I mean strength, power, vitality, and lust for life. Whereas Phil Mogg’s voice and Vinnie Moore’s guitar I connect with things like philosophy, mind, spirit. Those more elusive, passionate elements. When you combine the two and create a certain balance out of them, you will get a terrific rock’n’roll show, that very few bands out there are able to display. Okay, maybe there are a lot of, but when it comes to my likings there are only two that are able to make the butterflies flying in my stomach, sending shivers down my spine or just flying me to the cloud nine. UFO are a band that still deserve a proper recognition because of being criminally underrated over the years. I am aware that inclinations towards certain musical likings are somehow conditioned and they may not be shared, but let me just tell you about the two UFO shows I attended on November, 19th and 22nd.

The first show took place in Warsaw, Progresja Club. It was my first visit to the venue and some fellow fans warned me not to expect a good, selective sound because of the limitations the building represents. I was afraid a bit, and my fears were confirmed during the show the support band, The Bulletmonks, were putting on. The lead guitar was barely audible, and the vocals were hard to catch. They were doing their best on stage, and the songs they presented were close to Motorhead. As for a support band they achieved their goal and warmed up the audience.

UFO kicked off with the blistering version of ‘Saving Me’ from their latest ‘The Visitor’ album. I thankfully noticed the sound was actually not that bad. Not that bad to distract me from enjoying the show. Phil belted out the words with undeniable passion and charisma. He seems to be the singer that deny the influence of passing time. Obviously, his voice has matured. Now it sounds deeper, but he is still able to go freely from the low to the high register, without basically ruining the performance and displaying no signs of strain whatsoever. He is one of my favourite singers of all time, and I am glad that he never ceases to enchant me. What is more, Phil likes on stage joking. His banters to the audience considering Polish beer, Polish women (Warsaw), language (Warsaw and Wroclaw), an obligation for wearing clothes (Wroclaw) and micstand’s possibilities (Wroclaw) made me laugh my socks off. He was also playing his tricks on Vinnie and Rob, and they were escaping him. Yet he managed to finally get them. I also like his stage presence, he sings with the micstand all the time.

Vinnie Moore is a blessing for this band. They could not find anyone better for stepping in Schenker’s shoes. And he does improvise a lot. Not even one solo when I compare the two shows sounded alike. He puts a lot of heart into his playing. Once you observe him playing a jaw dropping solo, then you marvel at his ability to touch with the feeling. True artist who never fails to amaze. Total focus, but a smile from time to time as well.

Moore is aided by the rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Paul Raymond who plays simple, beautiful leads and also helps Phil with singing in choruses. Paul has a very down to earth sort of approach to his playing, and be sure he can do more than what you actually see him performing on stage. It is him who starts the interplay between him and Moore in ‘Mystery Train’. He rocks on keyboards, and is able to squeeze some juicy sounds from it. Just watch his face when he opens ‘Love To Love’ with the famous intro.

Andy Parker. Great guy full of witty humour. And hell of a drummer too. I missed a short solo from him, but he provided steady beats throughout the show and was pounding the skins with force and strength. UFO songs are demanding when it comes to drumming and I felt Andy does it with ease and has a lot of fun observing Phil fooling around.

Rob De Luca. Very skilled bass player, and Pete Way’s replacement. We all miss Pete, but health is the most important thing, and with Rob our longing may at least be subdued. It was visible that he was taking a lot of fun out of playing with UFO. The understanding between him and the band, particularly with Andy, was immaculate.

After the fantastic rendition of ‘Saving Me’ we got to hear ‘Daylight’. Great song that opened UFO shows while ‘You Are Here’ tour. Catchy melody, and powerful delivery. After this there came a time for a three from ‘Force It’ period. It started with ‘Mother Mary’ where Vinnie shone with his solos particularly. Yet he was able to add a thing here and there. And it was different those two nights. ‘Let It Roll’ shattered the ground as well as my ears. What a hard tune that one is. Paul played a nice keyboard on it, and Parker’s powerful drumming just made me feel very little. ‘I’m a Loser’. I have always had a soft spot for this tune. Maybe because I went through something similar to what stands in the lyrics, or maybe because it is simply a beautiful song where Phil has his five minutes. And for me the live version is the definitive one. Phil’s deeper vocals just enhance the nostalgic mood of the song, it just allows you to get your mind out of the venue and let your thoughts being drifted by the melody. Beauty, indeed. Then, the moment I anticipated the most. ‘Hell Driver’. My first favourite from ‘The Visitor’ and I was wondering how will it sound live. I have to say I was blown away. The opening riff immediately gets the audience to clap their hands, and the middle part is truly uplifting. They changed a bit in the ending when compared to the album version which makes the whole song more coherent and lets the adrenaline go down without causing too much inconvenience. The ending of ‘Hell Driver’, which is my number one party song, also introduces us to the mood of the first song of the ‘Obsession’ three. It is a tune called ‘Cherry’. I have always dreamt of seeing them performing it live and I was not disappointed. The bass line is just spectacular and the construction of that song is somehow different from the other UFO songs. There is a very short guitar solo, the dynamics are constantly changing and I like it when Phil delivers the stanzas peacefully just to unleash the full force of his voice in the chorus. Works miracles live, believe me. ‘Only You Can Rock Me’ is already a classic, so it was enjoyed by the crowd and me. The riff is so optimistic, and Vinnie’s solo touched me much more than Michael’s. ‘Aint No Baby’ was the ballad of the evening. Great song, with sweet opening sequence by Vinnie, but believe me I would prefer ‘Baby Blue’. Then again, you cannot always get what you want, right? Then we got to hear classics like ‘Love to Love’, ‘Too Hot To Handle’, ‘Lights Out’, ‘Rock Bottom’, ‘Shoot Shoot’ and ‘Doctor Doctor’ (only in Warsaw). They proved that UFO has progressed. In my opinion the songs are now performed as tight as ever, and Vinnie’s input keeps them fresh every night, because he plays them differently. The classics were interrupted by the inclusion of ‘Mystery Train’ which Phil announced as ‘an old song from 1950s.’ It was great to hear something from Paul Chapman era, which I think is underrated a bit by UFO fans. Superbly fast rendition that one was, played with great energy and fire. And we got a fantastic interplay between Vinnie and Paul by the end of the composition with Paul imitating the harmonica sound on the synthesizer. They were trading licks with style and class. It sounded good I have to say.

I missed something from ‘The Monkey Puzzle’ period. I mean we got songs from ‘You Are Here’ and naturally ‘The Visitor’, but it would be nice of them if they squeezed a tune from ‘TMP’ in between. For me as a fan, ‘TMP’ is the natural period of transition for UFO from the rocky side of ‘You Are Here’ to more bluesy of ‘The Visitor’. ‘The Monkey Puzzle’ stays in the middle because it includes both sides.

In the conclusion, I would just like to recommend seeing UFO on tour to anyone. It really does not matter if you are a fan like me, or not. You will be treated to a great musicianship, beautiful melodies, variety of textures and dynamics. Go and see the band who have always been underrated, but never bothered by the lack of critical acclaim have managed to release strong, quality albums and deliver shattering concerts!

Review - copyright 2009 - Marcin Rybacki