America Live Review @ The Sage (Gateshead) - 17 Mar 2009

America

Here & Now

Live Review

Because this band is so damned good, these words write themselves... line-up - originals Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley (vocals, semi-acoustic guitars, electric guitars, keyboards, they formed the band on graduation from American college in London, 1970), Michael Woods (guitars and keyboards, 31 years service), Willie Leacox (from Stockton California - drums, 37 years in) and Rich Campbell (bass and vocals, greenhorn with a mere 6 years under the flag), they kick off with Riverside, semi-acoustic heaven, a driving beat and harmony vocals to make CSN green with envy.

The opening chords of Ventura Highway (US top five in 1972 and sampled by Janet Jackson in 2001) prompt a welcoming cheer from the audience as the song unfolds its light, intriguing delights of 'alligator lizards in the air', a Bunnell song that he has described perfectly as 'fresh, vibrant, optimistic' - it gives me a lift every time I've heard it, and it's comforting to see that, despite the many thousands of versions the guys have played over the years, tonight they treat it with deserved care and respect, their singing powers undiminished by the years, harmonies so strong that they threaten to blow the ceiling off The Sage's Hall One and so tight that you can't get a Rizla paper between them. The pure oxygen of You Can Do Magic follows, uplifting and energising, with soaring vocals and Woods' fluid Fender Stratocaster, and he conjures up country banjo from his keyboards for Don't Cross the River. Yeah I know, I Need You (from 1972's debut album) is soppy in the extreme but, my, oh my, it more than stands up with spellbinding harmonies and full-on aural production - a winner.

There's the enormous sound and big drama of Hollywood, showing that they can do the big picture, the big rock 'n' roll, as well as their trademark astounding vocal acrobatics. From their latest album 'Here and Now' - there are 'Chasing the Rainbow' - a wistful stayer, the catchy 'One Chance' can only be America, and 'Indian Summer' is a languid classic. Americana is captured on 'Ride On', with immense guitar work from Bunnell and Woods, 'Ghost Riders In The Sky' - Hank Marvin, Dick Dale echoing across the plain. Dynamics are perfect due either to the nth degree rehearsal or to the intuitive interplay, the ESP that comes from their three decades playing together. Dreamy four-part harmonies melt me on Daisy Jane and on the gorgeous Tin Man, another irresistible, baffling Dewy Bunnell lyric, this time alluding to 'The Wizard of Oz', continues tonight's celebration of vocal harmonies and musical virtuosity, with the front men swapping instruments throughout. 'Never Be Lonely' has the best circular Beatles guitar picking outside of George Harrison and the words "Ain't it foggy outside..." - the most potent pause in rock music, seemingly endless.... "All the planes have been grounded"... opens the claustrophobic, oppressive 'Sandman', invoking the spirit of '68, ominous back in the day and still scary now as it plays to a stage backdrop of student demonstrations in the US, London and Paris, drug-damaged hobos wandering Haight Ashbury's street corners, dope-wrecked GIs in Vietnam, and Tet Offensive Chinook gunships strafing Charlie. For me, this is the dramatic highlight, a massive creation, an adrenaline-filled tour de force building to a solid wall of electric guitar sound, a white noise squall that signs off with a feedback tip-of-the-hat to Jimi Hendrix.

As the air settles and the feedback ebbs away, the evening closes with the sweetest ever pop of Sister Golden Hair, and the encore is, of course, the inscrutable 'Horse With No Name', delivered perfectly...and, as much as the meaning of this enchanting song has tortured me all these years, I didn't ask Dewey to explain when I had the chance later that night - it's maybe best left unexplained. Music has the power to shape and change the human disposition - I drove up to this show in a state of real depression due to lots of personal shit and as 'Horse With No Name' closed, America had lifted me immeasurably - thank you guys - it meant a lot and I can't wait till the next time.

Peter Innes