Here and Now, Live at The Bruton Castle

It happened that the legendary Here and Now band were performing a free/donations warn up gig in the Somerset backwater of Bruton on good Friday. Well, it would've been rude not to have attended. We first saw the Here and Now band 30 yeas ago supported by the Cardiacs and were blown away, since then I can't remember how many times we've seen them, or in how many manifestations, their albums (or live stuff) rarely far from the stereo.

Now, Slim Verhoef, Here and Nows guitarist, had posted 'get there early!', so filled with the fear of arriving only not to get in, which we remember experiencing in the 80's when going to see the band in Bristol, we arrived at the venue sometime before 5 O'clock. A bit previous perhaps; though better safe than sorry. The Bruton Castle pub was empty of punters, although we were afforded the pleasure of hearing the band rehearse, which was nice :o)  The Bruton Castle is a great little venue, friendly bar keep, nice beers, nice food, potato and leek soup only £3!, no complaints there. So we settled back and as the bar slowly filled we enjoyed a laugh, the locals banter and smiled as they bothered the band for a go on the drums, whilst a sleepy Keith the Bass, head resting in hand tried for a nap, and we waited for the bands performance. Just before 9.30 the band vanished from the bar area, our que to make for the back room.  

The band opened with a fantastic sweeping psychedelic jam which set the tone nicely for the rest of the show, followed by tracks including 'Floating Anarchy', 'Opium for the People' and a beautiful rendition of 'Ali Baba' from their 1978, 'Floating Anarchy' album, 'Jacques Cousteau', 'secrets', 'Fantasy shift' and 'So glad you're here' off the 1983 'Fantasy Shift' album, 'What you see is what you are' and 'Little things' (encore) from my favourite album, the 1979 'All over the show', plus a couple I couldn't remember the names of, finishing as is their way with 'So glad you're here', bloody marvellous, all played with vigour and enthusiasm. Man, what set! Keith The Bass (Bass), Mark Robson (keyboards), Andy Roger (keyboards) and Slim Verhoef (lead guitar) were joined on drums by a guy called Mike Giri (Normally it's Nik Nimbus on drums), now bearing in mind this chap had a mere 3 hour rehearsal and apparently had not even heard the encore track, he played a blinding gig (they all did), really knocking it out, fair play, man.  All in all, it was a fantastic evening, a memorable evening. The gig was a magic hat affair and I really hope that folk participated in the magic as the band had certainly done their part in creating some magic. As always, Here and Now never fail to leave you smiling and wanting more.

If you've never seen Here and Now, what's wrong with you! And more to the point, where have you been? Look them up, get to a gig and get blown away, you'll never look back, but you'll certainly be back for more :o)