Review: Curved Air / Renaissance. The Robin 2, Bilston – 19th April 2016
Review: Curved Air and Renaissance. The Robin, Bilston – 19th April 2016
By The Progmeister (on behalf of Midlands Metalheads)
Can you REALLY call yourself a Prog fan if you’ve never heard of these bands ??? Considering they both go back to the 70s and both feature an amazing female lead vocalist, backed by an incredible set of musicians, what more d’ya need ??
Although I suspect die-hard Proggies will be familiar with both bands, there’ll be a percentage who prefer Renaissance with their symphonic background and those who prefer Curved Air, who have more of a “Jazzier” and Rock Prog sound. Then there’s those who like both – Venn Diagram available on request !!
Well, if you’re one of the latter, this would have been a VERY special evening indeed for you as you had two classic Prog bands for literally, the price of one, but this wasn’t level-pegging, as Sonja Kristina explained during our interview (check it out online), Curved Air were “Special Guests” so consequently, they had a shorter set as Renaissance were the “headliners”….
Either way, if your allegiance lay with one or the other (or indeed both), I know you would have (did ??) enjoyed the evening immensely, so let’s take a closer look at proceedings.
I have been a regular attendee at The Robin for many years and have seen hundreds of bands/artists during that time, but I have NEVER been to an all-seated show there, so as this was, I was curious to see how it worked and I’ll be honest, whether it’s because I’m an old bastard, I actually preferred it, I’m afraid my head-banging and mosh pit days are well and truly a thing of the past !! To be honest, I think the style of music lent itself to a seated situation, I don’t know why, it just felt “right”, also, as I’m a short-ass, it was nice to have an unobstructed view of the bands, happy days.
Curved Air took to the stage around 8.00pm and did a set of around an hour and ten mins. The set was a mixed bag of old and newer material including fan faves – Spider, Young Mother, Stay Human, Melinda, Interplay, It Happened Today, Propositions, Purple Speed Queen, (one of my faves) Metamorphosis, good ol’ Vivaldi and (what a surprise) the encore was Back Street Luv. It might have been a shorter set than usual, but they still managed to pack in some classics. Sonja was totally on form and with 70 just a few years away, she could have passed for 10 years younger. Maybe not as sprightly as she was back in the 70s, but come on guys, we’re all getting older eh ?? As the only remaining member of the band, one could argue, is it really Curved Air anymore, but let’s face it, how many bands lose or change members over the years ?? I could quote a whole load of bands that fall into this category and have reformed or stayed active with only one or maybe two of the “original” members. Personally, I think it’s important for the band to try and hold onto their front person to try and hold onto some kind of identity as the vocals form a major part of a band’s sound (unless they’re totally instrumental of course !!). Tonight, we were fortunate enough to have BOTH original lead vocalists, who both happen to be ladies of a similar age and I can tell you, despite their age, they’ve still got it, in many ways. So, hats off to you both for hanging on in there. Both bands have an awesome set of musicians, in the case of Renaissance, all American too. 
In the case of Curved Air we had Kirby Gregory and Florian Pilkington-Miksa on Guitar and Drum duty, both from the original line-up, the rest of the musicians have only been with the band since their reformation in 2008. Found it quite ironic really that the violinist is called Paul Sax !! All in all, a brilliant set and for all the Curved Air fans, a real pleasure to see the band still performing, may they continue as they mean to go on and we look forward to their first “proper” new studio album very soon.
Ok, after an equipment shift, Renaissance took to the stage around 9.30 and played a set of 1 hour 40 mins which included such classics as Mother Russia, Immortal Beloved, Northern Lights (inevitable !), the awesome Song For all Seasons (encore), but also new material like Symphony Of Light and Grandine Il Vento (from the 2013 album of the same name). At the merch desk, there were a number of albums available to purchase,but also the latest live DVD, which was recorded at the Union Chapel in London (well worth checking out people !!).
At the young age of 69 (but like Sonja, would pass for ten years younger), this lady, although shorter than me (and that says something !!) has NOT lost it AT ALL !! Her 5 octave vocal range was totally put to the test tonight, at one point I expected all the glass in the room to shatter, unbelievable, she is a pocket powerhouse when it comes to the old vocal skills… The older tunes were all played note perfect and with two keyboard players and (potentially) 4 backing singers, nothing was too much trouble for these guys. As I mentioned earlier, Annie is the sole remaining original member, with the remaining members coming to the table since 2001, but they are solid and create a wall of sound that accompanies Annie’s amazing voice to the max. You can tell this lot wanna be here and with Annie explaining the background to the songs, with a bit of band history thrown in, for the uninitiated it was very educational, especially the story behind “Symphony Of Light” – an AWESOME piece of music that would please any die-hard Prog-Head, shame we didn’t get “The Mystic and The Muse” or “Ashes Are Burning” etc etc, but hey, we all had homes to go to and overall I though it was a very balanced set with something for everyone and I suspect, from the rousing applause at the end and the resultant queue of people buying CD’s and waiting for autographs, that it was well received by more than a few !!!
An epic and memorable evening, if you missed the tour – better luck next time, outstanding.
Check out the full gallery here, courtesy of Rob Billingham, Billibee Creative
