Sad Cafe played a blinder at Robin 2 last night. With former lead singer Paul Young and sax player Lenny Zaskin no longer with us, the lead vocals were spread amongst 4 of the 6 with mics and through the blend of the voices, I'm sure we could all still hear Paul Young in the mix. Ian Wilson has been my biggest musical influence since first seeing the band in 1980, straight ahead rhythm guitar and blinding harmony vocals, always working with the dynamics of the song, whilst Ashley Mulford has to be the most tasteful rock guitarist ever recorded on this side of the pond, although their studio recordings never come close to their live shows. Do yourselves a favour and get out to see them this week, melodic rock at its roots and at its besthttp://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919172#msg-919172Sun, 26 May 2013 04:28:46 +1000 Phorum 5.2.16 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919381#msg-919381 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919381#msg-919381
The intro and solos in "On With The Show" ? Just go and see them]]> Chazz NoticeboardTue, 13 Nov 2012 17:04:32 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919364#msg-919364 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919364#msg-919364Such a shame he's never done anything major since Sad Cafe, aside from stints with Chilliwack, Champion and Zahalan in Canada and Mike + The Mechanics tour in 1986. He also had alot to do with Michael Learns To Rock in Denmark.
Watching him play, and hearing that tone... made me think of someone like Lukather and how many billions of albums he's played on... Ash could well have done that once upon a time.
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardTue, 13 Nov 2012 09:12:26 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919349#msg-919349 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919349#msg-919349 2112 NoticeboardTue, 13 Nov 2012 07:10:52 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919327#msg-919327 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919327#msg-919327 Chazz NoticeboardTue, 13 Nov 2012 02:01:33 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919314#msg-919314 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919314#msg-919314I know Ian Wilson and Steve Whalley have been friends for years and Ashley, Simon Waggett and Steve Whalley have all been getting on well.
Seeing as Ian and Ash were 2 of the primary songwriters and Steve has written plenty over the years, plus Sue Quin is predominantly a songwriter, there's plenty of opportunity for new material.
Martin Kronlund producing, album on Escape maybe?!
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardTue, 13 Nov 2012 00:14:10 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919302#msg-919302 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919302#msg-919302 machinehead NoticeboardMon, 12 Nov 2012 22:10:09 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919272#msg-919272 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919272#msg-919272I just want to hear Sue Quin in the studio singing lead. She sounded great live, and she's only ever appeared as backing vocalist on anything I own (the latest being Dare's Calm Before The Storm 2).
Fingers crossed!
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardMon, 12 Nov 2012 11:55:47 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919231#msg-919231 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919231#msg-919231
I'm not a fan of the band, however I did hear an interview with them in the car the other week coming home from work on local BBC WM station.

They did mention that they were looking to continue on, and expressed an interest in recording new material....

Andy]]> andypuk NoticeboardMon, 12 Nov 2012 05:01:27 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919213#msg-919213 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919213#msg-919213
I'm useless at gauging attendence numbers but Craig's probably close to the mark, perhaps 200 or so there.

I have to add it wasn't the usual melodic rock crowd though, it was more the Mike & the Mechanics - middle of the road rock crowd in the house. From my perspective most seemed to enjoy it and although a smaller venue may have benefitted the band by squashing the crowd together they poorer sound at smaller venues wouldn't have done the band any justice!

Great show i'd definitley go and and see them again, i belive they are playing Tamuff next year so may go along to that one....

Woody]]> Woody NoticeboardMon, 12 Nov 2012 04:28:59 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919207#msg-919207 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919207#msg-919207I had heard that they may have to cancel The Robin due to poor ticket sales, but i'm glad it went ahead. I was suprised, as The Robin is one of the midlands premier venues for smaller bands these days, and the midlands seems to have a better live music scene than down south...
My Mum was thrilled, as her favourite song was always "Black Rose", and on Friday, she witnessed her big brother singing it for the first time ever :-)
Emotional night, for many I imagine.
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardMon, 12 Nov 2012 02:55:00 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919206#msg-919206 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919206#msg-919206
Robin 2 was about quarter full I'd guess, which was, apart from the tuneless support band, the only downer on the night. I also appreciate the way the vocals have been adsorbed into the band and Sue took the roof off the Robin. From what I recall, Lenni was a bit older than the rest of the band back in the 80s and I wasn't sure how is these days.

"On With The Show" & "Hungry Eyes" were fantastic, I'd love to hear "La-Di-Da" too]]> Chazz NoticeboardMon, 12 Nov 2012 02:10:04 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919199#msg-919199 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919199#msg-919199
It was a great night on Friday too.
The venue sold well, and the audience gave the band (and local boy Ashley) a rapturous applause. I love the fact they haven't tried to replace Paul, but have Ian and Steve share the majority of leads, Ashley sings in his own band in Denmark, so I was pleased to hear him get to show off his voice in Sad Cafe. The biggest suprise for me was Sue Quin. Voice of the night, totally added a great dynamic to the songs she sung, and was a great lady, selling merch, chatting with fans, organizing the autographs, etc at the end of the night.
The set list was also a pleasant suprise, with alot more material than I expected from 2 of my personal favourite albums "Ole" (1981) and "Politics Of Existing" (1985).
2 of my favourite songs, "Missunderstanding" and "Emptiness" got an airring, and I think Steve handled the more 80's westcoast AOR stuff really well. (I would recommend picking up his solo album from last year on amazon or iTunes, "Travelin' Soul", very bluesy westcoast Americana kind of vibe.)
I am looking forward to next years half of the tour, and there's talk of a special show in London next year, which will not be the same setlist as the tours, but be a special fan event (possibly recorded for DVD/CD... i'm not sure yet...)
I hope the band continues, and I hope they can get on a bigger tour, and play a few bigger stages. A package deal would suit them I think, and expose them to a bigger audience.
Now we need to convince them to get back in the studio!
But in the meantime, Friday will be etched in my mind as the gig I have waited my lifetime to see, and I wasn't left disappointed.
Niv

P.S - Lenni is still alive, but suffered a massive stroke and is now in a nursing home in Wales. He's doing good, but still needs a level of care, and as such will be unable to join the tour. Des was telling us after Friday's gig.]]> nivjourney NoticeboardMon, 12 Nov 2012 00:02:30 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919187#msg-919187 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919187#msg-919187 Lutty NoticeboardSun, 11 Nov 2012 23:01:58 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919172#msg-919172 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,919172,919172#msg-919172
With former lead singer Paul Young and sax player Lenny Zaskin no longer with us, the lead vocals were spread amongst 4 of the 6 with mics and through the blend of the voices, I'm sure we could all still hear Paul Young in the mix.

Ian Wilson has been my biggest musical influence since first seeing the band in 1980, straight ahead rhythm guitar and blinding harmony vocals, always working with the dynamics of the song, whilst Ashley Mulford has to be the most tasteful rock guitarist ever recorded on this side of the pond, although their studio recordings never come close to their live shows.

Do yourselves a favour and get out to see them this week, melodic rock at its roots and at its best]]> Chazz NoticeboardSun, 11 Nov 2012 20:16:11 +1100