Guilty Men

GUILTY MEN

Internationl Arts Cenbre: 19th February 2025

An absolute treat last night at the International Arts Centre on Garden Street. The first time for me to see THE GUILTY MEN and what a superb band they proved to be.

Five musicians with a superb pedigree and back catalogue coming together to form a wonderful cohesive whole.

The band comprises Clive Gregson (Any Trouble, Gregson/Collister, Richard Thonpson Band) Craig Fletcher & Jez Smith (Barclay James Harvest) Neil Cossar (the Cheaters) and Paul Burgess (10CC).

I never like to add genres but their music defies categorisation, displaying hints of americana, country, folk, pop and rock... songs contributed by all of the members and lead vocals shared by Clive, Jez, Neil & Craig

Clive and Neil both play superb guitar, with some quite scintillating lead passages throughout.. .Jez's keyboards shine through adding to the melodies and adding a depth of texture, at times reminiscent of BJH. The whole sound is unpinned by some great bass playing, and brilliant drumming.

The set started with four pieces, giving each of the four singers their chance to take a lead vocal, before anyone addressed the audience... but having introduced the four singers the chat and banter on stage was warm, informative and entertaining, with some great tales of heroic failure thrown in by Clive.

As well as the vocals all being strong the harmonies, whether 2- 3- or 4 part were spot on.

The bulk of the set was the bands "Invisible Graffiti" album, along with a couple of of tracks that were recorded but didnt make the cut... After the album the band highlighted material from the members earlier bands... Cheaters, BJH, 10CC and Any Trouble.

The music was always entertaining, beautifully varied throughout and allowed each member to shine in a lead role as well as being a really tight five piece ensemble... the band clearly have a great rapport among themselves and with the audience, and clearly enjoy playing together in the band.. something that communicates totally with the audience.

Superb set by a really high quality band... loved it... hope to see them back

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