- Music
- 05 Feb 02
The band played a major part in making this show the success it was...
It’s hard to argue with the kind of adoration and unflinching devotion that was heaped on the LA based former Grant Lee Buffallo frontman at a standing-room-only Vicar St. Hard to argue maybe, but a tad mystifying all the same
Kicking off on a high-octane note with a bevy of tracks from his second solo release Mobilize, the denim-clad Phillips certainly acts the part. Looking like a classic slacker rock-star straight out of central casting Phillips seemed over-awed by attention he received (“No paparazzi please”). But despite the passion of the performance, the songs, with some notable Fuzzy era exceptions, are mediocre, samey and uninspiring.
Backed by a muscular rhythm section and dodgy-suited keyboard player the band played a major part in making this show the success it was. The addition of fiddle and mandolin lent it a Waterboys ‘Big Music’ texture while the reverb on the vocals made him sound like a slightly less bombastic Jim Kerr.
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The highlight came in the encore with the solo rendition of ‘Happiness’ but that apart this seemed strangely lacking in substance. But then who am I to argue with the 850 or so smiling fans who thought different?