Brian
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Post by Brian on Jul 28, 2018 23:00:16 GMT -8
Don't wanna smash, want a smash sensation/Don't wanna wreck, just recreation
1974 was my Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll. Age 16, I saw Mott the Hoople, my favorite band, at my first concert. Mick Ralphs and Verden Allen from the original band were gone, replaced by lead guitarist Ariel Bender from Spooky Tooth, who was born Luther Grosvenor, and the wonderful keyboardist Morgan Fisher. Although I missed the classic Mott the Hoople line up, it was glorious. And I was lucky, too, because Ian Hunter left the band six months later.
All of the original members of Mott the Hoople were still alive for two series of reunion shows in the U.K. in 2009 and 2013 that were blessedly documented on official releases and bootlegs, but drummer Dale Griffin and bass player Overend Watts have died since. This year, Ian decided to convene his Rant Band and bring Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher onstage with them -- billed as Mott the Hoople -- for three festival shows in Europe in June and July.
Hope you enjoy that broadcast quality clip of "American Pie/The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll," the opening song at the Azkena Rock Festival on the coast of northeastern Spain. Just seeing the Rant Band makes me happy: drummer Steve Holley, guitarist Mark Bosch, bassist Paul Page, keyboardist Dennis DiBrizzi and always, most of all, band leader James Mastro, who's playing sax here instead of his usual impeccable guitar. |
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Nov 16, 2018 0:00:13 GMT -8
Two hours from now, tickets go on sale for six concerts in the U.K. next April by Ian Hunter and the Rant Band featuring Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher, marking the 45th anniversary of the release of "The Hoople" album and the subsequent tour recorded for the bestselling "Mott the Hoople Live." Unlike their three shows with that line up at festivals in Europe last summer, this version of Mott the Hoople -- billed as the Class of '74 -- is the main act, which means a lot more songs on the set list for a fully attentive audience. My heart soared when I read the announcement on Ian's official website on Tuesday: ianhunter.com/main/I can't make it to Scotland, the Midlands or London next April. But scroll down: "Lookout soon for news about further shows in 2019 in North America." |
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Post by Brian on Jan 23, 2019 0:00:23 GMT -8
 From left: Morgan Fisher, Ian Hunter and Ariel Bender.Ian Hunter announced on Tuesday that Mott the Hoople '74 will perform eight concerts in the U.S. from April 1 to 10: Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, suburban Philadelphia, Boston and New York. Tickets go on sale January 25 to the general public, but all shows have presale offers on the 24th. Ian Hunter Dot Com has links to buy tickets for each theater. When this American tour was teased in November, I assumed that it would happen after the U.K. tour in late April. That was just wishful thinking. Because of my work, I can't leave town in the first half of April. Thus dies my dream of seeing Ian, Morgan and Ariel onstage again, almost exactly 45 years later, playing with the Rant Band, the greatest back up ensemble on the planet for more than a decade. I can only hope that some kind fans will post quality You Tube videos. Meanwhile, let's return to those golden days of yesteryear: The 1974 line up of Mott the Hoople on British TV with "Roll Away the Stone." |
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Feb 19, 2019 0:00:11 GMT -8
If you want to see Mott the Hoople '74 this April, buy your tickets now. In less than three weeks, the shows in Cleveland and Glenside, Pennsylvania have sold out, and precious few seats remain for Detroit and New York City. Monday morning, Rolling Stone posted this interview online by the immortal David Fricke with Ian Hunter at his home in Connecticut, one of the best I've ever read with Ian, who always gives great interviews. I've been reading Fricke since he wrote for Circus in the 1970's, and he saw Mott the Hoople in 1974, so he has good taste in music. I learned a lot from this piece -- and maybe relearned a couple of things I'd forgotten, like the members of Mott the Hoople knew Luther Grosvenor long before he became Ariel Bender -- but the biggest news is that Ian has a stack of cassettes with home demos of new songs and he's returning to the studio with the Rant Band in August: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/ian-hunter-interview-mott-hoople-tour-david-bowie-794172/Whoever posted the amazing You Tube clip from the first Mott the Hoople '74 reunion show in Spain last summer that graces the top of this page slipped in another video a couple of months later. (I searched his account -- there are no more.) It's an odd choice among the famous tunes played at that festival, but I love it. "Lounge Lizard" was recorded by Mott the Hoople with Mick Ronson on lead guitar after he replaced Ariel Bender. I have that version on a couple of posthumous compilation albums released decades later and on a Brussels concert bootleg. Ian and Mick later recut the track for Ian's first solo album, when I fell in love with the song. Now you can see Ariel playing lead guitar on "Lounge Lizard" backed by the Rant Band: I do not understand how that You Tube video can have 200 fewer views than this thread on the Montrose Peace Vigil message board. |
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anni
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Post by anni on Mar 31, 2019 13:53:36 GMT -8
Friday night, Ian Hunter sang "All the Young Dudes" for the finale of this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York. Backing him onstage were Brian May of Queen, "Little" Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band, Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles, Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of the Zombies, and the entirety of Def Leppard, who were there to be inducted in the Hall of Fame along with the Zombies and Roxy Music. Ian's Internet concierge posted the audience video below on Twitter. Next month, we can see it on HBO in high fidelity.
The Mott the Hoople '74 U.S. reunion tour starts tomorrow in Milwaukee.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Apr 8, 2019 23:00:22 GMT -8
I can only hope that some kind fans will post quality You Tube videos.
On opening night last week, Toshi Aizawa posted this remarkable video of "All the Young Dudes." Shot close to the stage, her excellent camera work and good sound captured the entire band. I even dig the flashes from the overhead lights. Here's what I missed in Milwaukee:
I talked myself out of posting yet another clip of "All the Young Dudes" from Chicago two nights later because only Anni and I would appreciate it. Andy York -- Ian's co-producer in the studio since the "Rant" album in 2001 and his lead guitarist on tours with the Rant Band through 2005 -- was back onstage for the finale with a huge grin.
By the end of this U.S. tour on Wednesday, I might be able to piece together an entire set list of decent audience videos from all eight cities. There seem to be no deep cuts like "The Moon Upstairs," which we heard in concerts by Ian and the Rant Band in recent years and at the reunion shows of the original Mott the Hoople line up. This set list is comprised of songs I heard Mott play in 1974, like the epic medley of "Jerkin' Crocus/One of the Boys/Rock 'n' Roll Queen/Crash Street Kidds/Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On/Johnny B. Goode/Violence..." Decades later, Ian changed the words of the punk precursor from "Violence, violence -- it's the only thing/That'll make you see sense." Now it's "Violence, violence/Doesn't make any sense, doesn't make any sense."
This is truly the golden old age of rock and roll. |
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anni
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Post by anni on Apr 15, 2019 9:02:49 GMT -8
This amazing and comprehensive review by Cindy Stagoff, posted online Sunday by NJArts.net, captures Mott the Hoople -- and its audience -- at the Beacon Theatre in New York beautifully, although she's a bit off describing us fans as being "older than 50." Almost all of us crossed 60 a while ago; we just look younger. Reading her review is the next best thing to being there.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jul 29, 2019 23:00:18 GMT -8
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Post by Sharon W on Jul 30, 2019 7:00:20 GMT -8
I certainly hope you will feel free to just give the vigil a drive-by wave on your way downtown - we can find another data gatherer to substitute for one night! We want to go to the show too though.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 20, 2019 23:00:13 GMT -8
Three weeks ago, Ian Hunter announced the cancellation of the Mott the Hoople '74 tour that was set to begin today because of a sudden onset of severe tinnitus. This is what he wrote on his website, Ian Hunter Dot Com: ianhunter.com/main/mott-the-hoople-74.shtmlNothing I can say after that. Let's close this reunion thread with the camerawork and commentary of keyboardist Morgan Fisher. Back in 1974, Morgan took a Super 8mm camera on Mott the Hoople's U.S. tour. I've got footage on bootleg and official DVD's. Here is the last installment of his April 2019 road movie using the latest technology, with Morgan, Ian, Ariel, Paul and Mark on the tour bus as it approaches New York City's Beacon Theatre, followed by the goings on before and after what may have been their final show in the U.S.: |
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