Well, what can you say about all the incarnations of Manfred Mann, or Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. If you look at their resume, it’s packed solid with hit records. During the sixties there were hit after hit, and not just hits, they are songs that are played on radio today. They had a knack of taking an existing song and turning them into gold. Not that all their hits were written by others, they had their own hits, and the members all went on to have great success in their own rights! And they did have a hand in shaping the sixties. First vocalist was Paul Jones who sang on a lot of the earlier songs, but when he did decide that he wanted to pursue other things and a solo career, he was replaced by Mike d’Abo, whose voice was not a million miles from Jones, and still the hits came, very impressive.

Every now and then they do a tour for the fans, as there was never any bad blood, and this is a fantastic opportunity to relive the nostalgia of the sixties. Yes, they are older, we all are, there seems to be a market for this band, as witnessed by a nearly sold-out Town Hall, and they proved that they still bring about a standing ovation. And not out of sympathy, Paul Jones particularly has still got a cracking voice and if he ever does another of his blues tours, I will be there. All the band showed that age doesn’t have to diminish talent, just watch Tom McGuinness’ classy guitar solo.

They mixed it up, starting with hit after hit. After the interval, they came on and did a semi-acoustic section, which featured a slowed down version of ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’ – which they did at normal speed later – ‘Just Like A Woman’, and the d’Abo penned classic ‘Handbags And Glad Rags’, before finishing the night again with full band banging out the hits. If I listed them all I’d be here all night. One of Paul Jones solo hits was included ‘I’ve Been A Bad Bad Boy’, a personal favourite, and while were writing about Jones, my god he can play the harmonica, absolutely brilliant amongst the best I have seen. So as long as their health holds, I can’t see why we won’t see The Manfreds again, a very entertaining night of nostalgic, classic songs.

Photos by Geoff Griffe
Review by Jenny Griffe