Much has been made of The Waterboys’ transformation in very recent years from flag-bearers of, pan-Celtic British Isles Folk Rock to an outfit steeped in Southern soul, blues r ‘n’ b, gospel and sundry other American genres. Their last album Modern Blues began the restyling process but the recently-released, Out Of All This Blue – a sprawling, 23-track opus – almost completes the transformation.
Encompassing funk, soul, hip-hop, Philly and even electro-dance pop, you might say that it’s Muscle Shoals via Memphis and Minneapolis – but even that doesn’t even come close. In truth, Mike Scott has always pushed the boundaries out and The Waterboys’ back catalogue reveals a chameleon-like aspect to the way he has evolved over a thirty-five-year career.
It’s curious. The Waterboys even look different these days! The stage-set features a row of those old-fashioned film set lights Last Waltz style – while the large band includes several American players, as well as long-time Waterboy and demon fiddler Steve Wickham with one-time Picture House bassist Aonghus Ralston also added to the line-up
The fact that so many songs from the new album make up the bulk of the early part of the set tonight makes them “challenging” for sections of the audience. However, such is the passion and intensity of Scott’s vocal performance and the instrumental prowess and power of the musicians onstage (special mention to the backing singers, who added a classic soul sheen) they were mostly won over. The songs, while uncharacteristic-sounding are terrific: the achingly melodic ‘Santa Fe’ and the groove-driven ‘If The Answer Is Yeah’ are irresistibly catchy; ‘Do We Chose Who We Love’ has echoes of late-period Curtis Mayfield; and ‘If I Was Your Boyfriend’, undoubtedly inspired by the Prince tune with almost the same title, borrows a guitar riff from The Faces’ ‘You Can Make Me Dance…’ The lyrics alone tell you exactly where Scott’s musical mind is at right now: “We would put on some Marvin to fill the room with grace…”
Meanwhile, ‘Love Walks In’ reveals a man very much in love: the romance is palpable, but the elongated ending with the chorus repeated over and over dissipates the impact somewhat. ‘Nashville Tennessee’, a steamy Southern rocker in the Stones Sticky Fingers vein features Brother Paul on organ waving his arms like a wild Leon Russel and when Scott sings, “I’m one-part psychedelic gypsy and one-part blue eyed refugee” you get the feeling he’s summing up his current artistic state of mind
There’s still room in the set for Big Music classics such as the whirlwind rush of ‘Medicine Bow’ and a majestic, piano-led ‘A Girl Called Johnny’ – the latter in particular evoking waves of nostalgia among the crowd. ‘Whole Of The Moon’, which for some reason sounds more like The Beatles’ ‘Penny Lane’ these days, is delivered without much change arrangement-wise from the original version. ‘Fisherman’s Blues’, on the other hand, loses some of its original swing, replaced here by a choppier rhythm. And there’s a couple of trad interludes, including ‘The Connemara Fox’.
Ultimately, this was a huge triumph.
COLM O’HARE