Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany15th September 2009
Ray Wilson Acoustic Band
Front man of STILTSKIN, former lead singer of GENESIS and solo artist: The Scot RAY WILSON is a jack-of-all-trades. One year ago, he released his most recent solo album `Propaganda Man´ which came to the record stores in 2009. Right now, he is touring Europe within the scope of his projects. http://www.raywilson.net / http://www.myspace.com/raywilsonmusic
After arriving at the Colos-Saal, I took a close look at the stage. There was the basic equipment referring to an acoustic show: Several guitars and basses, a drum set, a tambourine. The wall was decorated with a huge backdrop displaying a RAY WILSON portrait and his lettering. Up to then, I had primarily known him as singer of the STILTSKIN song `Inside´. Therefore, I was very curious about the concert and how the musicians would manage to play the announced GENESIS stuff. Furthermore, I was told that RAY WILSON is a talented songwriter and I couldn’t wait to listen to his own pieces I hadn’t been familiar with up to that evening.
Music & Performance
As there wasn’t any support act, the concert began at half past 8. Receiving thunderous applause, Ray (lead vocals, guitar), Ali Ferguson (lead guitar, backing vocals), Ashley MacMillan (drums, percussion) and Lawrie MacMillan (bass, backing vocals) entered the stage. They all seemed to be in a great mood. I instantly noticed that the front man is a gifted vocalist and charismatic front man. `Propaganda Man´, one of his solo songs, opened up the concert and everyone in the well-filled but not over-crowded hall was listening intently. Due to the reduced acoustic soundscape, I could even hear the clicking of my camera. According to the tour title, some GENESIS songs shouldn’t be missing. When the band played the first bars of `No Son of mine´, a distinct murmur went round the rows. The master’s voice can confidently be regarded as an additional instrument even conveying a lot of emotions and power in the restrained verses. Thus, it wasn’t surprising that the chorus caused goose bumps. By and by, the audience got more and more excited.
Firstly, I was sceptical about an appropriate implementation - just consider how complex the GENESIS songs are - but later on, I had to admit that those acoustic versions also had that certain something. Naturally, they appeared less sophisticated, but they scored with a very own and pretty emotive style. For example, the crowd sang along the entire ballad `Carpet Crawlers´ which was a nearly magic moment. Besides his musical talents, Ray has got a profound sense of humour. Telling funny anecdotes, he turned out to be a smart entertainer making all the people laugh. When he had to tune his guitar preparing it for playing `Constantly reminded´, some weird sounds could be heard. With a smile he was joking that he was going to perform a BRIAN ENO song. Generally, he talked a lot. Before RAY WILSON started to intonate `Another Day in Paradise´, he wished PHIL COLLINS well and expressed his personal regrets about the fact that this famous artist isn’t able to play live on stage anymore.
It was also great to listen to Ray’s own catchy pieces such as `Sarah´ and `Another Day´. As I liked them a lot, I have already added one of his albums to my wish list. Last but not least, he and his band members performed the eagerly awaited `Inside´ impressively accompanied with a wonderful light show including a dramatic interplay of colours and hologram-like patterns. After all in all 21 songs, it was time to say good-bye and the RAY WILSON ACOUSTIC BAND thanked the enthused crowd for coming. Before leaving, Ray announced that he would be on tour with STILTSKIN in this year’s November. To arrive at the conclusion: Though I had seen a lot of breathtaking concerts at the Colos-Saal before, that performance was one of my personal highlights.
Setlist
01. Propaganda Man
02. No Son of mine (Genesis cover)
03. Land of Confusion (Genesis cover)
04. That’s all (Genesis cover)
05. Not about us (Genesis cover)
06. Carpet Crawlers (Genesis cover)
07. Change
08. Entangled (Genesis cover)
09. Sarah
10. Bless me
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11. Another Day
12. Lemon Yellow Sun
13. Razorlite
14. Another Day in Paradise (Phil Collins cover)
15. Wish you were here (Pink Floyd cover)
16. Follow you follow me (Genesis cover)
17. Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel cover)
18. Shipwrecked (Genesis cover)
19. Jesus he knows me (Genesis cover)
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20. Constantly reminded (Stiltskin)
21. Inside (Stiltskin)
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 8.6 / 10
All pictures by Katrin Renner (http://www.creavision-webdesign.de/)
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