Sometimes if you wait long enough, musical miracles happen in your lifetime.
Pink Floyd reforming at Live 8 before the untimely passing of keyboardist Rick
Wright, Genesis inducted in the rock and roll hall of fame, and, as is documented
on Live At HMV Hammersmith Apollo 2009, Verden Allen, Dale
Griffin, Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs and Overend Watts came together again as the
mighty Mott The Hoople for a series of reunion concerts in merry old England.
This triple disc set is an “instant” release, meaning it was originally
made available for sale to the audience, right after the show. The recording
is as it was performed, with no overdubs. It’s Mott The Hoople on October
1, 2009 — warts and all.
Opening with “Hymn for the Dudes,” featuring Allen’s blasting Hammond,
the band rolls through some truly classic Mott — “Rock and Roll
Queen,” with a cooking bass from Overend Watt, along with “Sweet
Jane” and a driving “One Of The Boys.” There’s “Sucker,”
which has Hunter spitting out sardonic lyrics like nobody else can. You can
definitely hear the Dylan influence on tunes like this. Mick Ralphs also shows
up on this one finally, with some signature guitar work.
Acoustic pieces like “The Original Mixed Up Kid” and “I Wish
I Was Your Mother” are tasty little moments with Hunter and Ralphs trading
some nice fret work. There’s some sweet harmonica thrown in and Hunter
is in good voice, especially on “Mother.” Ralphs’ vocals on “Ready
for Love” are sloppy, but the tune does cook near the end with some more
great keyboard work from Allen and drumming courtesy of the Pretenders’ Martin
Chambers, who sat in for the ailing Dale Griffin on many of these tunes.
The second CD opens with a rather ragged-sounding Hunter singing “Walkin’
With A Mountain,” segueing into a snippet of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
Hunter also mans the piano as he sings the opening of “Like a Rolling Stone”
into a near perfect “The Journey.” Hunter once said Mott was great
when they were loud, but better when they had their soft moments like this.
“The Golden Age Of Rock and Roll” “Honaloochie Boogie,”
and a tired sounding “All The Way From Memphis” end the regular
set.
Since these CDs were recorded right then and there in real time, you have to
wait through a lot of clapping and hoping-they-come-back-to-the-stage anticipation
for the encores. In some ways, it’s annoying and in some ways, it’s
kind of cool. The band do return, this time with Griffin on drums, for a loud
“Roll Away The Stone.” There’s some inspiring backing vocals
and Ralph really cuts loose. This is followed by “All The Young Dudes,”
“Keep A Knockin’,” and finishes up with a truly sweet “Saturday
Night Gigs.”
The third disc is a DVD of pre-show goodies, a still picture (including archival
stuff) gallery, and a semi-documentary style walk through backstage, interviews
and rehearsals — good stuff for even the most causal of Hoople fan. Live
At HMV Hammersmith Apollo 2009 is a true historical document —
sometimes messy, but filled with a lot of heart and a true music miracle. I
can’t recommend it enough.
~ Ralph Greco
