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Wizardry from Kevin Ayers 'A great night out' still sums up a good gig And that's precisely what cult singer-singwriter Kevin Ayers delivered to a packed Waterman's, west London in March 1995 with probably the best band he ever had: Liverpool's equally wayward and eccentric Wizards Of Twiddly. The set is delivered for posterity this February by Market Square Records on "Turn The Lights Down! - Live In London" (Market Square MSMCD 105). This CD album tracks that night and gradually draws the listener into the sweat, heat and smoke of the occasion, realising it not only by the music but by those live 'noises off': shouts, applause, requests by the audience for favourite songs, and by Ayers for a glass of brandy and the ever dimming of the stage lights.
"Turn The Lights Down!" cracks along
with classic cuts from Ayers' repertoire spanning three decades. Fans will
recognise early and mid-period material ('Lady Rachel', 'Stranger In Blue
Suede Shoes', 'Mr Snake', 'Super Salesman') as well as later songs ('There
Goes Johnny', 'Am I really Marcel?'), revitalised in this set by the urgent
support of the
Wizards. Ayers and the band had been touring the UK and Europe that year and put in two sessions for Mark Radcliffe's show on Radio One. By the time they got to the Waterman's, they were flying. Market Square likes to tell a story. With its 8-page booklet packed with band pictures and notes including Ayers' own reflections of that year, "Turn The Lights Down" records a night of top notch entertainment: for fans as well as those not yet initiated in Kevin Ayers' art, it's a must. Instructions for use: invite round friends, dim lights, open bottle of wine, fire up 'greenest cigarette', turn up loud, enjoy... USEFUL WEB SITES ABOUT KEVIN AYERS www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~marwak/iu/ex.html
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