Wishbone Ash’s autumn tour with its London date at the Islington Academy has been a fixture on the gig calendar for many years, and more often than not these days seems to mark a significant milestone. I was one of three friends sporting the T-shirt from the 50th anniversary gig three years ago, 12 months ago it was the half century of the classic ‘Argus’ and now they were marking 50 years since the double live album ‘Live Dates’, with its iconic desert island artwork, not to mention a brand new ‘Live Dates Live’ album.

Of the foursome that recorded the original album, only Andy Powell is still in situ, though ironically I’d seen Martin Turner and his band also play a Live Dates set in town just weeks earlier. Indeed (a Wishbone anorak writes) there have even been two line up changes since they last played the album in full on their 2014 tour. Despite that, the album was delivered in its original order and in fairly faithful fashion, and generally with only the briefest of anecdotes from Andy about the songs.

The gig actually opened with the instrumental ‘Real Guitars Have Wings’ which I always think of as a good call to arms with those trademark harmony lead guitars. Then the ‘Live Dates’ segment began with that magical trio from the folkier side two of ‘Argus’, in ‘The King Will Come’ with Mark Abrahams handling the solo superbly, faithful to the original but putting his own stamp here and there, ‘Warrior’, and ‘Throw Down the Sword’ though Andy’s exquisite closing solo was delivered without that twin lead climax.

While hearing the old classics in the hands of his baritone voice make them slightly different and taking a little getting used to, he has grown in confidence as a vocalist over the years and his voice fairly boomed out. Indeed some fine supporting higher harmonies by ever reliable bassist Bob Skeat were too low in the mix for my liking.

Mark has given the current line-up a shot in the arm but unlike his immediate predecessor Muddy Manninen plays relatively little slide. That all changed with some quite breathtaking work on a lap steel on ‘Rock and Roll Widow’. ‘Ballad of the Beacon’ was more familiar being the one song on the original where Andy sang some of the leads, and he and Mark both really seemed to enjoy playing the blues cover of ‘Baby What You Want Me To Do’, though for me it still palls against the invention of Wishbone’s original seventies material.

After a lengthy ‘The Pilgrim’ the crowd needed something a little more up tempo so ‘Blowin’ Free’ gave the set a timely lift then ‘Jailbait’ saw those duelling guitars at their finest and turned into a bit of a jam.

However the best was left to last, with ‘Lady Whiskey’ showcasing those harmony leads in the first part of the song, then Andy soloing at length with a fire and aggression you have no right to expect from a 73 year old; followed by an epic ‘Phoenix’ which lasted nearly 15 minutes, Andy dedicating the message of rising from the ashes to the people of Ukraine, Morocco and Syria. It was a perfect illustration of how the current line up has in recent years developed a fresher and harder edge as a live act, and after being rather hidden behind a huge drum kit, for the first time in the set I was really appreciating the contribution new(ish) drummer Mike Truscott makes to this.

This incarnation of Wishbone are still very much currently recording artists, but for once this was a night of pure nostalgia. So as an encore we got a pair of contrasting numbers from the post Live Dates ‘Mark 2’ era of the band, indeed two of the very best from that period- ‘Living Proof’ which always gets a good response and where Mark had a blast playing the solos originally associated with Laurie Wisefield; and the dreamy ‘Persephone’ where Andy’s vocal range was pushed outside its natural limits and more exquisite solos from both guitarists. We were lucky on this last night of the tour, as most of the tour had seen only one encore.

These songs have stood the test of time fifty years on and hopefully will continue to do so for another 50. Although their original creators will not be around then, after a gig better than I had dared hope for, there is no doubt the current incarnation of Wishbone has the vitality to flourish for some while yet.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024

ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)

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