Man

[Stephen Barstow]

        In full blown bitter & twisted mode, but still able to
contribute ;-{P>

        At 10:33 16/11/98 -0000, Andy wrote:
        >
        >Next was a treat - the first gig for 22 years of Martin Ace and
the Flying
        >Aces, featuring Martin's wife (George?).  Pure nostalgia, but
not half bad
        >either.
        >

        >>Yes, it's George.

        >
        >Next up, Alkatraz.  I think this was their first show for a
bloody long
        >time, too, but it didn't show - they were very good indeed.
Didn't a couple
        >of these guys used to be in Man?  A similar sound to 70's Man,
whatever,
        >received very enthusiastically.
        >

        >>Alkatraz was founded by Will Youatt, bass player from the
"Back In to The
        >>Future" incarnation of the band.  I don't think any of the
other (original)
        >>members were Man alumni, although I think there were
connections into the
        >>"Family Jungle".  We could do with having Pete Frame
resurrecting and
        >>enlarging upon his "Rhinos, Winos, Lunatic, Playboys Bums &
Me" family tree
        >>that he did for ZigZag!

        You should get hold of the booklet "Mannerisms" produced as a
labour of love
        by Martin Mycock. Contains everything imaginable about the Man
Band including
        a full list of gigs from 1968 to the 90s, a family tree for Man
and friends, discography,
        a selection of gig adverts, reviews etc. - a great read if
you're into the band (and it costs
        only a few quid). You can reach Martin at
MartinMy at compuserve.com.

        >
        >And at last, Man.  What can I say that hasn't been said?  As
befits a band
        >on their thirtieth anniversary, they're almost telepathically
together,
        >their long rambling jams have been honed into precise
compositions of real
        >beauty.  No surprises in the setlist, but hey.  Jones' son
joined for the
        >first encore (Jones: "Cheeky bugger!"  Jones junior:  "Short
arse, short
        >arse!"), and looked as if he knew what he was about.  The
current line-up's
        >got a few years left in 'em, but the future of the Man band is
assured!

        I'm not sure exactly what they played at the Astoria, but there
were a
        number of real surprises in the set list when I saw them in
Southampton
        a couple of weeks ago (and I believe they also played most of
them in London):
        Manillo (from Do You Like it Here Now), Brother Arnold's Red and

        White Striped Tent (from Two Ounces of Plastic with a Hole in
the Middle),
        snatches of "In the Beginning" from the first album, Revelation
- during Many
        are Called...., and the return to the set of "The Man X-Ray
Eyes" and the John
        Cipollina tribute "Wings of Mercury". Added to that a great
version of
        Spunk Rock (which they never played often) and you have a quite
amazing
        set list..........(NB! the band played Brother Arnold during the
sound check at
        the Space and Rock Festival in the summer - they must have been
practising).
        They also played another real oldie - 7171551 at several of the
gigs on the current
        tour.

        Have a look at

        http://imusic.com/cgi-bin/bbs/bbs.cgi?x=man

        for more comments from the current tour and also reviews on the
Man web site....
        >

        >>I swear I'm jinxed this year - everything worth seeing since
June has
        >>clashed with my fatherly responsibilities!  I'm glad it was a
good'un
        >>(BASTARDS!)

        >>ChrisW

        Steve