Gallery - Slideshow And Review

The Amphitheatre, South Shields - 10th June 2006

Gig Review - Tabnab, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear.

Sitting in the Marsden Rattler pub adjacent to the Amphitheatre, we could hear FOURGOODMEN running a soundcheck at around 6.00pm. From a distance the band sounded great, even drowning out the music inside the pub itself ! Looking out of the pub window I could see many people heading along towards the venue to check out who was playing the loud music. Waterfront and Kiss Cool was rehearsed and both sounded brilliant. Down with the lager and along to see the band in action - camcorder in tow. I filmed the remainder of the soundcheck which was 'In A Big Country' before making our way back to the pub for another drink. Carrie Macneil playing pipes was as cool as ice. Excited by what I saw and heard I couldn't wait for the band to return to the stage later for what promised to be a great show.

It was a sunny but rather chilly night on the north-east coast of England, the band were back on stage and received a great welcome from the audience. For me, the tension was mounting during the 'Albannach' intro tape. The camera was rolling again as the band took to the stage with the unmistakable bass intro to 'Waterfront'. For just over an hour FOURGOODMEN played 11 songs which included Chance, Don't Get Me Wrong, Duel and the brand new song Kiss Cool. As I was filming most of the concert, and also taking photographs during filming breaks, I probably missed a lot of what everyone else saw but this didn't detract from what was a great show which I thoroughly enjoyed. The final encore, Don't you (forget about me), saw audience participation at its best. Ian's banter between the songs also kept the crowd entertained as well as Bruce's acknowledgment of the 'Groupies' that were in attendance - 4MADWOMEN !!!

It was a good, solid all round performance by the band. Ian delivered a great vocal, the first time I had seen him 'Live'. Jane Button provided excellent backing vocals and proved that she could step it up when she sang the Propaganda hit 'Duel' by herself. She received a great applause at the end of the song, quite a few whistles too. Bruce Watson played excellent lead guitar and seemed to be enjoying every minute, his animated movements around the stage were very reminiscant of his earlier days in 'Big Country'. Mick Macneil played faultless keyboards and treated us to some great accordian playing, especially during Belfast Child. Derek Forbes was all smiles during the show, clearly enjoying himself, and this was certainly reflected in his bass playing which was at it's usual best. On the sticks was Smiley, great drumming. Again, a great show on the bagpipes from Carrie, the icing on cake.