Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Vrsar (Montraker Live Music festival) / Croatia
Concert date: July 20, 2013
Attendance: 400
Ticket price: 70.00 HRK
It doesn’t happen very often that the legendary British art rockers Wishbone Ash, who in their colorful career became best known for the cult album »Argus« (1972) and as pioneers of multi-part guitar harmonies that influenced many later generations of hard rock and metal musicians, pay a visit to Croatia. The band’s chieftain, the iconic guitarist/vocalist Andy Powell, the Finnish guitar wizard Muddy Manninen, the bass-playing joker Bob Skeat and the drum maestro Joe Crabtree (ex-Pendragon) played our southern neighbors as the main attraction of a multi-day music festival run by the Croatian company Montraker, held over three days in the middle of the popular resort town of Vrsar. Even before the band took the modest stage, which was still perfectly adequate for the size and surroundings of the venue, the mood was incredibly positive among the loyal fans, who had come mostly from Austria and Germany, where the band is still most popular, with a handful of Slovenes somehow mixed in as well. That vibe always goes hand in hand with the shows of one of the most heartfelt groups in the history of rock music, who have so far released, count ’em, twenty-three studio albums, the most recent being »Elegant Stealth« from 2011.
During a short chat with the band members backstage before the show, we gathered that they had something special lined up for the setlist this evening, especially since it was a show with a 20-minute intermission. We couldn’t have wished for a more thrilling opening than three »Argus« classics that still ooze magic: the pompous opening treat »The King Will Come«, the epic »Throw Down the Sword« packed with multi-part guitar harmonies, and the pastoral masterpiece »Sometime World«. Together they transported us, in spirit, back to the romantically idealized days of medieval Britain. It has to be said right away that the band members were in great spirits, even though the decent sound system tended to drift downhill a bit because of the slight slope, since the stage stood on a hill. Mr. Powell was also a little ‘reserved’ on guitar this evening and left the lion’s share of the guitar improvisations to his longtime partner in crime Manninen.
Andy had a perfectly good reason: he had recently had shoulder surgery, which kept him from going full virtuoso on his famous Gibson Flying V, and on top of that this was Wishbone Ash’s first show after two months of complete concert silence. Still, Mr. Powell sang both the longtime classics and the newer material with great confidence. Among the latter they started off with »Can’t Go It Alone«, written together with outside collaborator Pat McManus. With »Heavy Weather«, another track from the album »Elegant Stealth«, and a long, improvisation-stretched version of »Open Road«, which comes from »Number the Brave« (1981), their only album with the legendary bassist/vocalist John Wetton (Asia, ex-Family, King Crimson, Uriah Heep, UK) in the lineup, they wrapped up the first half of the show, followed by the 20-minute break.
The second half kicked off with one of their most beloved and best-known songs, »Warrior«, which is still a proper guitar school ‘in miniature’ for every young and aspiring heavy metal guitarist. »Man With No Name« isn’t among the more inspired moments of »Elegant Stealth«, but the members of Wishbone Ash spoiled us the whole time with tremendous energy, onstage chemistry and commitment to ‘the cause’, so hardly anyone cared that it wasn’t the happiest choice, especially after a couple of big surprises followed. It’s not often that Andy and company remember their early-eighties material, but this evening we got to hear both »Lifeline« from the album »Just Testing« (1980) and »Engine Overheat« from »Twin Barrels Burning« (1982), their only studio effort with the sadly departed bassist Trevor Bolder (Uriah Heep, David Bowie and the Spiders From Mars). An even bigger surprise was the performance of »Surface To Air« from the album »Front Page News« (1977), given that Powell and the song’s author, former bassist/vocalist Martin Turner, who leads his own version of Wishbone Ash, still haven’t buried the hatchet.
The closing stretch from the British hard rock innovators, who left a strong mark on the progressive rock world as well, featured some of their most vivid evergreens, such as the party-minded »Pilgrimage«, the standard »Jail Bait« and an extremely interesting take on the unforgettable epic »Phoenix«, which came out way back in 1970 on their debut. This time they completely ‘reorganized’ it through improvisation, with Powell again handing the lion’s share of his solo duties to Manninen because of the aforementioned shoulder surgery. For the encore they somewhat surprisingly pulled out the fan-favorite »Just Testing« standard »Living Proof«, not exactly a common pick in recent years, though it didn’t quite go according to plan. All the better, then, was »Blowin’ Free«, yet another »Argus« gem and the closing number of this magical evening. As expected, every member squeezed out the maximum, with the Finnish guitar master Manninen having even more to do than usual and therefore deserving double praise. For their first show after a longer break, the gig in Vrsar turned out downright excellent.
Finally, special praise goes to the festival organizers, who delivered quality sound given the circumstances, and to the polyglot MC, who even thanked our festival-goers in Slovenian, something that was almost unimaginable in the Istrian resorts not so long ago. Yet another proof that we’re now back together with our former Yugoslav brothers, for better or worse, in the increasingly fishy-smelling ‘stew’ of European nations that we have eurocracy to ‘thank’ for. Most of the crowd, though, after Wishbone Ash had filled them up, despite the late hour, with a hefty gallon of positive energy and fresh zest, didn’t rack their brains much over such an uninspiring fact.
Setlist
1. The King Will Come
2. Throw Down The Sword
3. Sometime World
4. Can’t Go It Alone
5. Heavy Weather
6. Open Road
—intermission (20 min.)—
7. Warrior
8. Man With No Name
9. Lifeline
10. Surface To Air
11. Engine Overheat
12. Jailbait
13. Phoenix
—encore—
14. Living Proof
15. Blowin’ Free
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