Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Location: Castello di San Giusto / Trieste / Italy
Concert date: July 28, 2011
Attendance: 650
Ticket price: €0
Seeing a live show by Caravan, the legendary champions of the Canterbury progressive rock scene, on continental European soil these days borders on science fiction. On tour they only rarely play outside their native Great Britain, except maybe for the odd bigger prog-rock festival. Frankly, since the end of the seventies, when they hit their creative peak, it just doesn’t pay off for them, given that their style of music is ‘ultra unpopular’ now and only the most devoted disciples of old-school progressive rock show up to their gigs. A sad but harsh reality in an age when showmanship, provocation, vulgarity and unbearable kitsch from popular ‘musicians’ (male and female) matter more than the music itself. Luckily, just across our western border in Trieste, there’s a handful of fiery devotees of good music who have, for several years running, organized some seriously interesting progressive rock concert events in their city in the middle of summer.
So in the summer of 2011 the ‘impossible’ happened and Caravan agreed to play in the idyllic setting of Trieste’s castle, Castello di San Giusto, which in terms of ambience was tailor-made for their musical heritage with its strong Anglo-Saxon lyrical stamp. Caravan took the stage in a lineup that, besides the only original member, singer/guitarist Pye Hastings, included keyboardist Jan Schelhaas, whom fans of Camel also know well, violist/flutist/occasional guitarist Geoffrey Richardson, bassist/occasional vocalist Jim Leverton, and new drummer Mark Walker, who in 2010 replaced the seriously ill original drummer Richard Coughlan for live shows. Coughlan officially remains a member of the band, but because of his illness he had to give up all future concert appearances.
Australian Walker is quite a few years younger than his seasoned English colleagues, but with his explosive, eclectic drumming chops and strong jazz background he still reminds you a lot of the young Coughlan, and he brought a refreshing, youthful energy into the band as well. Pye’s distinctive voice is still incredibly well preserved after all these years, something very few of his fellow singers from the pioneering era of progressive rock can boast. The technical execution, as they wove together their trademark blend of symphonic rock, jazz and folk with an emphasis on string and keyboard arrangements, was enviably good, though the band needed a little while, until around the third song, to ‘warm up’ and for the show to really come alive. The sound was mostly decent, though it could have been a notch better, which Caravan certainly deserved. Caravan members are traditionally not big talkers, so Pye kept his song introductions to the essentials and casually tossed in a funny anecdote or two about how the songs came to be.
The champions of the Canterbury scene opened with three classics from far more romantic times, when the lion’s share of rock music was still made with heart. As a warm-up they played the energetic catalyst »Memory Lain, Hugh / Headloss« from the masterpiece »For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night« (1973), followed by an equally impressive rendition of the evergreen »And I Wish I Were Stoned« from their second album »If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You« (1970). The first nod of the evening to their best-known album, »In the Land of Grey and Pink« (1971), came with the unforgettable treat »Golf Girl«. Then they played two newer pieces from the album »The Unauthorised Breakfast Item« (2003), which some fans consider their best work since the end of the seventies. Those were »Smoking Gun (Right For Me)« and the title track of that album, which comes with a hilarious but true anecdote about a bizarre incident in an American hotel.
Caravan then, quite surprisingly, played two songs, »Nightmare« and »Give Me More«, from the somewhat less appreciated and less recognized album »Better By Far« (1977), which came out in the middle of the punk era but still got an unexpectedly good response, even from some of the ‘mainstream’ media of the time. Just as some people in the crowd were starting to wonder why the set list had no more Caravan evergreens, the masters of the Canterbury scene played an outstanding version of the »For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night« favorite »The Dog The Dog, He’s At It Again«, which, with its cheeky lyrics and burlesque atmosphere, was one of the highlights of the show. Caravan also played »Fingers in the Till« and »I’m On My Way«, two songs from their upcoming new studio album »Paradise Filter«. They closed in grand style with their best-loved epic »Nine Feet Underground« from the masterpiece »In the Land of Grey and Pink«, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, got the wildest reaction from the crowd of the whole night.
It was an incredible feeling to see a cult prog-rock band like Caravan for the first time, especially since these days it’s extremely hard to catch them ‘live’ outside their home turf, the British Isles. Even though only drummer Walker ‘drags down’ the band’s average count of gray hairs, the respectable years barely show in the Caravan members’ playing, they have every song down ‘to a T’, and the band has incredible cohesion on stage the whole time, as we in Trieste could see for ourselves from up close. The atmosphere was fantastic all evening long, and the idyllic castle surroundings, which couldn’t suit a quintessentially English band like the champions of the Canterbury scene any better, contributed a lot to that. There was no admission fee, and maybe that’s also what drew a few more people than most had expected. Besides a small band of Slovenian prog ‘fanatics’ who weren’t about to miss an event like this at any price, locals made up most of the crowd. You’ve got to admit that the Italians, along with the Poles and the Dutch, are the most committed keepers of the contemporary progressive rock live scene.
Setlist
1. Memory Lain, Hugh / Headloss
2. And I Wish I Were Stoned
3. Golf Girl
4. Smoking Gun (Right For Me)
5. The Unauthorised Breakfast Item
6. Nightmare
7. Give Me More
8. The Dog The Dog, He’s At It Again
9. Fingers in the Till
10. I’m On My Way
11. Nine Feet Underground
