Paul Rodgers
Spirit Of Free Tour
City Hall
Newcastle upon Tyne
UK

2017-05-07

A lot of us listen to all sorts of bands and music for all sorts of reasons, but when all is said and done there's a small number of artists who mean the world to us, excite us above all others and in a lot of cases they're why we ended up immersing ourselves in music in the first place. Within that core there's one which, while the others rotate within your personal top five or six, is always top, the one that always reaches the soul. For me, it's Free.

Bizarrely, I wasn't expecting to be at this show. A very good friend of mine had booked tickets in another city for another "core" favourite before this show was announced. Over the course of the past fortnight a series of events meant I wouldn't be able to make that show, on account of family and logistics, so I reluctantly had to kick it into touch. More "fortunate" was a ticket for this show dropping into my lap a day before the show, and circumstances conspiring to make attendance at The City Hall possible. Looking back, contemplating non-attendance of Rodgers playing an entire set of Free numbers (marking the 50th anniversary of Free) in God's Own Hall...what madness possessed me???

As it turned out, there were an awful lot of similarly expectant devotees of a common disposition milling around The City Hall by the time I arrived. A good portion (from overheard conversation) caught Free back in the day. Countless others caught them along the way - but their passion's no less ardent. A few were even taking their young kids along. Fine parenting.

Given Paul's backing band was more usually Deborah Bonham's cast of choice, and that Deborah was also a patron of the Willows Animal Sanctuary charity (along with Mr Rodgers - and who would benefit from this string of shows), it was fitting that Deborah provided the support. Aided and abetted by Doug Boyle on guitar, she delivered a set of original work and legendary covers. She tries very hard - doesn't hold back, and her conviction earned a warm response.

The response which met Mr Rodgers when he walked on stage was...overwhelming, and continued throughout. The outpouring from decades of bottled up catharsis made for a heady atmosphere, this magical space once more resonating to the sound of yesteryear's alchemy (Carried away? Me?? You bet).

This was no sing-a-long-a-Free. Yes, the better known tunes were all there, but this crowd yearned for something a bit deeper. For me, I always found some of the slower and moodier songs were as powerful as any of the "hits". Consequently, Love You So, Soon I Will Be Gone and the brooding Come Together In The Morning each had me at tipping point. By the time we got to the rousing version of Walk In My Shadow, I was gone...Crossroads being the decoration on the icing of a wonderful cake of halcyon times gone by.

Canny night, really. Had worse.

A couple of things I still struggle to come to terms with. Firstly, they weren't the most prolific nor the commercially successful of bands, yet the power and simplistic, soulful quality of their music still resonates and inspires today. Finally, and with respect to the fine musicians who deputised tonight...just how good a band was the original line-up? Utterly mind-buggering.

Set List

01 Little Bit Of Love
02 Ride On Pony
03 Travelling Man
04 Be My Friend
05 Soon I Will Be Gone
06 Songs Of Yesterday
07 Travellin' In Style
08 Love You So
09 Come Together In The Morning
10 My Brother Jake
11 The Stealer
12 Mr Big
13 Woman
14 Fire And Water
15 The Hunter
16 Encore Break 1
17 Wishing Well
18 All Right Now
19 Encore Break 2
20 Walk In My Shadow
21 Crossroads

Paul Rodgers - Vocals
Peter Bullick - Guitar
Ian Rowley - Bass
Rich Newman - Drums
Gerard Louis - Keyboards


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A Rocking Regimental Recording

Check out Willows Animal Sanctuary at http://www.willowsanimals.com/. Help and support always welcomed.