hecklergigs: Simply Red, Harewood House 2/6/06

Simply Red (or Mick Hucknall plus some other blokes) basked in the warmth of adulation at Harewood House near Leeds last night despite the rain lashing down and lightning threatening to immolate the congregation of die-hard fans.

Mick’s delivery of old favourites such as Holding Back The Years and oh… some of the other ones, went well. He then caused alarm amongst some of the watchers when he announced he would perform stuff from the new album.

It seems not everyone there was really up to speed on the Simply Red new catalogue. Still, the inclusion of new numbers gave the non fans like hecklerspray (who, actually, only went to keep their girlfriend happy) some respite from the idiots who insisted on turning the gig into a Singalonga Mick session. Forty quid to be tormented by some loud Yorkshire wannabe plus his shrill and sozzled wife seems a lot to fork out just to impress the other half.

However, nothing really diminished the ardour of the fans who stuck it out for an hour and a half. Not even the presence of 40 and 50-year-old brutes stinking of beer and cigarettes who jostled and shoved everyone while trying to attract Mick Hucknall’s attention (presumably in their drink befuddled state they thought Hucknall might have recognised them as those really interesting blokes he met down at the Cap and Ferret last weekend).

So, the Simply Red gig progressed to the predictable end. Mick postured and played coyly with the fans while the other blokes played with energy. With a final salute to the bedraggled hordes, they all skipped backstage. It was sad to see that even before the crowd’s cries of desperation reached a respectable level, the stage crew were already setting up instruments and mikes to allow the encore. We hoped, but were disappointed when Simply Red actually returned to trundle through another three numbers.

We believe the believers believed that it was a great concert. For those of us non-partisan in mood it fell really well short of what was expected. The most atmospheric part of the whole thing was when mass revolt and shifty-eyed guilt persuaded those with umbrellas to put them down so those at the back could see.

[story by Neil Wills]