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NAZARETH
O2 Academy, Liverpool, 16 March 2012

So for the second night in succession, the 02 Academy beckoned this time offering a fine wine this time as opposed to an intravenous shot of Jack from BSC the night before.

Not since the days of the Stadium had I had the opportunity of seeing the boys perform. Backstage during the GRTR! radio interview I was handed a brochure which, among other niceties, charted Nazareth's family tree back to the early days of the Shadettes.

Ridiculously and impulsively I asked Dan McCafferty if he remembered all these people to which Dan politely replied "oh yes of course".  I suppose what I was saying was that I didn't until I perused it in more detail.

Actually Nazareth's turnover is certainly not as often as you would imagine. Aside from stalwarts Pete Agnew and Dan McCafferty, they tend to hold on to their musos. Sadly Darryl Sweet of course died in 1999. Manny Charlton was the only other surviving founder not now in the picture.

On stage then was Dan and Pete plus their long term guitarist Jimmy Murrison who has established his youthful frame firmly in the landscape along with drummer, Lee Agnew. No bottled water for our axe man in the opening, 'Silver Dollar Forger' but a pint of beer waved ceremoniously to the waiting throng of Celtic Liverpudlians.

Naz are known as a kick ass rock band and rightly so. They became household names with singles like 'This Flight Tonight', 'Bad Bad Boy' et al and yet the slower songs take the 'fine wine' cliché to its vintage degree.
 

This was less about reliving youth and more about keeping it real.
 

In the dressing room Dan explained the meaning behind 'When Jesus Comes to Save the World Again' (and you will have to listen to the interview to find out what this means) but both the album track and the live version show the band at their most philosophical.

Partly this is how they handle the transition from youth that spawned the classics to maturity. 'Sunshine' too slowed the tempo without losing the attention span. This was less about reliving youth and more about keeping it real.
 

Nobody is expecting a Floydesque thesis on communication but wisdom is a precious commodity preferably served with overdriven guitar.
 

'Radio' was my highlight of the night as it harped back to a Golden Age but with a reminder that some of the simpler means of communication still ring true today. And that sums up Naz really. Nobody is expecting a Floydesque thesis on communication but wisdom is a precious commodity preferably served with overdriven guitar.

It's almost 'audience with' but not quite and this balance of raconteur, audience participation and out and out rock star posturing  you warm to very quickly. And when the joyous tones of 'Love Hurts' die down you begin to realise that bands like Nazareth need to be with us on the journey. Long may that continue.


Review and photos by Keith Thompson

Keith presents 'Rockwaves', Sundays 21:00 on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio

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