The Road To Nowhere Tour 2020: WISHBONE ASH @ Reigen, Wien (24.01.2024)
The live club Reigen in Vienna has a long tradition and is best known for the annual Vienna Blues Spring, but unfortunately many Viennese concert goers are less familiar with this location. Which is a shame, as there are really good concerts taking place there. From poorly attended concerts like that of ZODIAC 2014 to the RITCHIE KOTZEN concert that took place the day before, I’ve experienced a lot in Reigen. The eternal personal highlight for me will remain the first MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO show in 2015, which the aforementioned guitarist crowned in 2023 as part of the Electric Guitarland event with the brilliant GUS G in his luggage. The last great feat was only achieved last September by VINNIE MOORE, who played to the knees in the iconic club.
Now I was looking forward to the WISHBONE ASH concert that traditionally takes place in January, which I had already planned to attend at least three times. On January 24th, 2024, I was finally able to enjoy the legendary English band on stage for the first time. I wasn’t the only one, because the club was very full and the atmosphere was really lively when the band took the stage at 8:30 p.m.
WISHBONE ASH started their set with “Real Guitars Have Wings”, which was accompanied by an instrumental 80s synth sound and set the mood for the guitar-heavy evening with its ingenious twin guitar lines. This was followed by the more recent song “We Stand As One” from the last album “Coat Of Arms” from 2020 with its distinctive guitar lick and very anthemic vocals. We hope WISHBONE ASH will sound like this for many years to come!
Now we went back to the setlist from the “Live Dates Tour” from 1973, to the first “Argus” track “The King Will Come”. After the long intro solo, this number really kicks off from minute one with the guitar lick for eternity. The supple singing and the solo interludes put a smile on the faces of the concertgoers present. It was also a sublime moment for me to hear this song live for the first time.
WISHBONE ASH added another classic with “Warrior”, which again shone with a unique intro solo. The refrain: „I’ll have to be a warrior, a slave I couldn’t be, a soldier and a conqueror, fighting to be free“, goes down like oil with my MANOWAR affinity. However, Joey DeMaio would never admit to stealing from WISHBONE ASH, he would rather die for metal.
“Throw Down The Sword” completed the “Argus Triology” brilliantly. These three songs really deserve their place in “rock heaven” and reminded me a little of SAXON with their epic atmosphere. The guitar harmonies are simply great and came across really well live. The band was in great spirits due to the audience reaction.
Now the sound became more straightforward with “Wishbone Four” material, with the song “Rock ‘N Roll Widow” performed on the slide guitar, which was a positive surprise live. “The Ballad Of The Beacon” also impressed with quieter folk melodies. Afterwards, the blues-loving audience was served with the JIMMY REED cover “Baby What You Want Me to Do”, which took a little out of the program for my taste.
Even though “The Pilgrim” isn’t a bad composition per se, this instrumental sounds pretty improvised and left me with an ambivalent impression about it “Hippie loafers” and „Dadadida-Text“. I was able to do a lot more with the shorter, riff-oriented “Blowing Free” – again from “Argus” – which also sent very positive vibes to the audience. The following “Jailbait” also rocked comfortably, before things slowly entered the home stretch with “Lady Whiskey” from the debut album. The extremely long opus “Phoenix” marked the glorious conclusion with its significant twin guitar leads.
Setlist WISHBONE ASH:
Real Guitars Have Wings
We Stand as One
The King Will Come
The Warrior
Throw Down The Sword
Rock ’n Roll Widow
Ballad of the Beacon
Baby What You Want Me to Do
The Pilgrim
Blowin‘ Free
Jailbait
Phoenix
–
Living Proof
In addition to frontman, lead guitarist and singer Andy Powell, the second lead guitarist Mark Abrahams, both in Hawaiian shirts, also cut a good figure. Bob Skeat on bass complemented the legendary band perfectly and current drummer Mike Truscott also played confidently behind the drums. Due to the euphoric audience reaction, WISHBONE AAH were asked to do an encore in the form of “Living Proof” and sent a completely satisfied audience into the evening.
Autor: Florian Rosenberger
Photos: Aleksandra Pruenner (www.aleks-photo.com)
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