RICHARD STRANGE & CLIFFORD SLAPPER/LILYBUD/KEVIN HEWICK
Musician Pub 4th February 2023
What a wonderful way to spend a sunday afternoon... back in The Musician Pub for a gig i had been looking forward to for ages... and it did not disappoint in any way.
The return to the Musician of Richard Strange along with Clifford Slapper as The Ministry of Desire along with Lilybud and Kevin Hewick
The afternoon started with a set by Kevin Hewick. Kevin is an established and much respected musician and known by most... This set was slightly blighted by malfunctioning guitars and leads but Kevin handled it with style and real aplomb. He is a gifted storyteller and his tales here, as well as his songs delighted and amused the audience.
Kevin sang and played so well and i thoroughly enjoyed his short set... great start to the day...
And "Happy Birthday" Kevin!!
Next up was the wonderful Lilybud. She has a simply glorious voice and sings like a dream. Her songs are the highest quality and range from a very uplifting gospelly song to begin with and songs with a positive message or social conscience.
Lilybud accompanies herself on keyboard and with backing tracks... i am not normally a fan of backing tracks but in this case no problem... Lilybuds fabulous voice and singing simply transcend any other considerations and truly warm the heart...
So glad she got to do a longer set than last year... i could listen to her all night... wonderful!!
Headlning was Richard Strange with Clifford Slapper.... the Ministry of Desire. Richard is so much more than a singer... he is a singer, guitar player, songwriter, actor, entertainer, raconteur and a hugely warm and wonderful man... he may well have other talents as well!
Clifford plays keyboards alongside Richards guitar and vocals, and what a great player he is... so much more than an accompanist... he is a great keyboard player and gives so much to the performance.
The setlist primarily features songs from the Ministry of Desire project, many of which had not been played live before... but somehow with Richard's character and performance most of them already felt like old friends. The set also went right back to songs from the three Doctors of Madness albums as well as from Richards solo projects
Lilybud came back to the stage to sing harmony for the last few songs, but before the last song, Richard announced an unrehearsed song, a request, for the song that got him banned for life from the BBC for the second time... the Radio 4 breakfast show heard he had written a love song for Cherie Blair and wanted him to sing it live before rehearsal or hearing it... I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the Breakfast show control room as the song proceeded!!... If you dont know the song or wonder why the ban, go to you-tube and look up Richard Strange singing "You will Die"
This was a truly wonderful afternoon's entertainment and both Richard and Lilybud are truly two of the warmest nicest people out there
huge thanks to Richard, Clifford, Lilybud and Kevin for providing such a wonderful afternoon
Keep music live... keep music real.. support your local venues
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