| Man Raze UK | Man Raze The Spitz - Show Page 2 |
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TUE 27th Sep 2005: The Spitz, Old Spitalfields Market, London, ENGLAND.
[Pic by Deflepparduk.com]
Phil spoke again with "It's getting hot in 'ere" and then he took his shirt off (now why didn't Alanis think of that!...). He mentioned they have an album coming out next year, either then or after the next song, a woman said something. I didn't hear either but after Phil said "Wot?" She said it again "Will you be naked on the cover?". Cue laughter, "Yeah, if you want me to be". Simon said something too but didn't quite hear that. It was pretty funny though. In fact there were a few people shouting things and I think most were friends or family. At one point someone, (who was 3 or 4 feet to my left) said something and he said "I'll deal with you later". After this they then went into 'Every Second Of Everyday' - only know the chorus from the official clip and the rest of the song is just as good and again very rocking. I think judging by what we heard tonight (85% of it) the full album will be great, and a huge success. More importantly it will rock!
Phil introduced 'Low' next and like the clip suggested it is a more mid-paced rock song but no less heavy than the fast ones. Very melodic and catchy. Would be a good choice for a single I think. After this a very cool moment, I didn't recognise the song until Phil started singing. It was a cover of 'Fire' by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. A song they chose on the radio the other day. They played a great version of it with nice chorus vocals by Simon - who incidentally sang back up on most songs and sounded great. (Paul sang a bit too - on this one I think).
"na na na naah na na na naah"
'Runnin' Me Up' was the next song and I believe their best song. It's got a great mix of Police-type reggae influence with rock mixed in. Some superb guitar work by Phil. The studio version has lots of different parts going on at the same time but you hardly noticed the difference live. Wait until you hear the Instrumental Dub and you'll agree with how good it is! And again this would be good as a single to showcase their range of songs.
"This is our new maxi-single..." 'Skin Crawl' which oviously is the one song most people were familiar with. Just as good as the studio version but obviously slightly heavier. Really cool part in the middle where Phil did some Rocket-style soloing before the last chorus kicked in. I think this single will be a big seller and not just among Lep fans. Aided by the fact that the 'B' sides are just as strong if not stronger than the single itself.
"Alright this is 'Halo'" 'Halo' - very heavy and extremely good. Difficult to judge songs on first listen live but this sounded great. Another one with a very heavy sound and great singing by Phil - his voice sounded excellent all night. The way he sang whilst playing guitar too was very impressive.
The last song was 'It's Entertainment' which again was quite melodic and very catchy - there wasn't a bad song played all night. That song title summed it up - it was entertainment! I was hoping to hear 'Original Sin', 'Shadow Man', 'I Can't Live Without You' & 'Closer To Me' but will have to wait for the album - or the next gig.
I think for a first show this was a great success and I'll definitely go and see any Man-Raze show that I can in England (or beyond). As you'll see from the pics the stage was VERY small. Probably one of the smallest Phil's played on since the early 80s. Not sure when their next gig will be but I hope to be there. It was a pleasure to see their live debut.
Fan Review - by Planet Queen
Well short set but who's complaining? No wonder they didn't start until 10pm. Tiny but cosy venue, and a bar: great, but the loos were waay down in the basement which meant for a few hair-raising trips at breakneck speed just in case the guys came on mid-visit.
The support act were two guys doing a comedy piece: felt sorry for them because no-one paid a blind bit of notice until they went off: to a huge cheer for vacating the stage.
Man Raze came on about 5-10 minutes after, the atmosphere was great, lots of comments from Phil. Lots of laughs. And for all the girlies, the shirt came off after two songs: 'You know, what, it's getting hot in here...' Someone asked him if he was naked on the cover of the 'Skin Crawl' single which went down well. Sound could've been a little better: Phil's vocals were great but sometimes the mix was a little off and you couldn't hear them. I'm no musician so I can't comment on the set up, but it's good being close enough to see the band working the music and the communication that you don't always see on a big stage.
'Skin Crawl' is definitely good single material, but my personal favourite was 'Runnin' me up': you can hear the Police influence but at the same time it's a fresh, meaty reggae track.
There were at least three photographers, Ross Halfin included (now there's a sensible guy: he wears little yellow ear plugs, very rock 'n' roll!) Man Raze also did some filming before the venue filled up: there should be plenty of photos around before long.
Fan Review - by Paul
What a great little show!
Luckily, I had seen an interview with Phil on the same day as the show, so I knew it would be a short set. The details were sketchy, so I'm not surprised Darren turned up early! I phoned the venue first so I had an idea they wouldn't play until 10ish, so I duly turned up at 8.30. My other half managed to skillfully bump into Phil on the stairs, whilst asking for directions to the loo, so we had a laugh about that!
I have to agree with Darren on the opener, the two guys reading, whilst admirable, was unfortunately slightly annoying and pretty un-interesting. The loudest thing I could hear during this, was the chatter of the crowd behind us, so I assume most people felt the same.
The band duly took the stage, Phil handling duties as if he had been a front man for years, this band were tight and they rocked! The sound was very good, in fact I've not heard a three piece sound anywhere near as good as they did. One thing that did surprise me was how basic the set up was for Phil in particular, a footswitch, two little Randall speakers and a Vetta head, the range of sounds he got was very impressive (I'm a guitar player, so I look out for this stuff).
Yes it was a short set, and It's a shame they didn't do an encore, but it was just unbelievable to be that close in a little room to these guys and see them play so well. I hope they get the band out and in front of as many people as possible, it deserves to be seen by people outside of the obvious Def Leppard circle.
Phil's Printed Setlist ::
Thought this would be of interest - from the printed setlist: comments were underneath each song:
Connected To You (Count 1-2-3-4, End on 4th riff),
You're So Wrong (Drop down on last verse),
Every Second (Gap before outro vocal. Accents on end),
Fire (Count 1-2-3. Crescendo ending),
after Runnin' Me Up: Talk,
Skin Crawl (Sing don't shout),
Halo (Sing first verse),
It's Entertainment (Chugging verse riff. Big crescendo ending).
And the keys were written by each song title (see page 1). Another setlist also had a possible encore track: Cold Metal (in A)
Show Comments - by Ross Halfin - rosshalfin.co.uk
[Diary Sep 17] - "Phil Collen calls me (he's in London). I haven't seen or spoken to Phil since a very depressed me ran into him in New York two years ago. We catch up for a couple of hours. Def Leppard have fired Q Prime, their managment, and
are changing a lot of things. Phil has a new band called Man Ray - they are playing on the 27th in London, I'll go. Strange when you talk to someone after a long time - it feels like I only saw him last week..."
[Diary Sep 27] - "Don't feel like it,but as I'm invited I drive to the east end of London to see Phil Collen's new band, Man Raze, play at the Spitz club by Aldgate East station. I enjoy it. Herr Collen gets his shirt off in the second song to show off his kick boxing body. The songs are good - Skin Crawl, Halo, and Low stand out. I noticed how strong Phil's voice is. Paul Cook is a good solid drummer and Simon Laffery looks about ten years old..."
BTW I got to meet Ross just as the set ended. He'd been in front of me for the last song taking pics of Phil. He talked to us about Steve Clark briefly. (Ross has added 6 pics on his site/Sep diary page/see link above).