UFO - Poland, 2009

[deepestman]

Body & Soul


UFO played two dates in Poland. The first one was in Warsaw, November
19th, and the other in Wroclaw, November 22nd.

Set list was as follows on both dates:

1.Saving Me
2.When Daylight Goes To Town
3.Mother Mary
4.Let it Roll
5.I’m a Loser
6.Hell Driver
7.Cherry
8.Only You Can Rock Me
9.Ain’t No Baby
10.Love to Love
11.Mystery Train
12.Too Hot To Handle
13.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
fly in my stomach, sending shivers down my spine or just flying me to
the cloud nine. The first one you obviously know, the other is UFO, a
band that still deserves 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!