Peter Viney's Blog

A Funk Finale: The Farewell Tour
Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre
Thursday 16th May 2024

Alan Gorrie – vocals, bass guitar, guitar
Onnie McIntyre – guitar, backing vocals
Fred Vigdor – tenor sax, backing vocal
Rocky Bryant – drums
Brent Carter – vocals
Ron Aries – keyboards, bass guitar
Cliff Lyons – alto saxophone

SET LIST

First set:
I Just Can’t Give You Up (AWB)
The Jugglers (Show Your Hand)
This World Has Music (Show Your Hand)
You Got It (AWB)
Person to Person (AWB)
Keepin’ It To Myself (Benny & Us)
McEwan’s Export (The Clover Sessions demo / Warmer Communications live)
TLC (Show Your Hand)
Cloudy (Cut The Cake)
Work To Do (AWB)

Second set:
When Will You Be Mine? (Feel No Fret)
Walk On By (Feel No Fret)
Cut The Cake (Cut The Cake)
A Love Of Your Own (single, Volume VIII)
Whatcha’ Gonna Do For Me (Shine)
Atlantic Avenue (Feel No Fret)
Put It Where You Want It (Show Your Hand)

Encore:
Let’s Go Round Again (single / Pickin’ Up The Pieces)
Pick Up The Pieces (AWB)

Time passes. The last time I saw them was at The Brook in Southampton about twenty years ago. The first time I saw the two original members, Alan Gorrie and Onnie McIntyre, was with Forever More, probably 1970. The first two Forever More albums are a well-kept secret. Both brilliant. The late John Wetton’s first recorded composition was St. Peter co-written with Alan Gorrie, and released by Mogul Thrash. Roger Ball and Molly Duncan from Mogul Thrash were the original AWB horns and guested with Forever More. More recently, I enjoyed Alan’s 2015 version of Michael Marra’s Letter From Perth.

Bournemouth Pavilion is a highly nostalgic venue for me. That was where I used to go on Tuesday Beat Night way back in 1963 to watch Zoot Money & The Sands Combo in the Ballroom. Friends played there. I’ve done an ELT comedy routine there. I couldn’t begin to list who I saw in the ballroom, let alone the theatre. Forever More played in the ballroom too. The theatre has good sound (with an experienced team) … Van Morrison said he preferred two nights at the Pavilion to one night at the far larger Bournemouth International Centre because the hall sounded so much better.

While only two originals are left from 1972’s AWB, Fred Vigdor on sax has been a member for 28 years, Rocky Bryant on drums clocks up 18 years, and Brent Carter on vocals 13 years. Alan Gorrie and Onnie McIntyre sound just as good vocally as they did when the band started out. John Wetton used to say when asked who his favourite singing bass guitarists were, ‘Paul McCartney and Alan Gorrie.’

The first thing to note is the sound was impeccable. Every instrument was clear. Every vocalist was distinct. The volume was ‘just right’ – loud enough to be exciting, but considerably quieter than many bands in the same space. This takes work and expertise.

On McEwan’s Export from their demo sessions, and on TLC, Alan Gorrie moved to guitar … as well as being a stellar bass player, he is a great guitar player and keyboard player. Ron Aries moved to bass guitar and Alan always needed another bass player so he could switch. In the second set, Ron Aries did a superb bass solo too when Alan was on guitar. Onnie McIntyre continued his role as one of the great funk rhythm guitar players, and whenever he took a guitar solo it was short, elegant and beautifully taken.

As from the outset, the twin saxophones are an integral part of their sound as well as their stage look and appeal. They switched sides, took it in turns to solo, added vocals, moved in unison.

The audience were there to dance, or at least (given the age of some of us) to stand and jig about. I was fascinated by the way Brent Carter could get us all on our feet towards the end of the first set around TLC, then get us seated again for his sublime vocal on Cloudy, and then back up for the Isley Brothers Work To Do … OK, we’re supposed to say ‘The Isley Brothers’ but in truth the AWB version is far better known. We were putty in the man’s hands!

There are some good anecdotes. Alan Gorrie described recording You Got It, waiting to go into the studio as soon as Aretha Franklin finished. No spoilers.

The two sets works. It’s not a case of simple stamina for the band, but it aids concentration to take a 30 minute break for the audience too. They didn’t mess around milking the encores either. They gave a decent short pause and straight back on. A lesson to artistes who like the audience to shout and stamp for five minutes before deigning to re-appear. Everyone knows there will be an encore, so let’s get on with it.

They have an extraordinary back catalogue, though I wondered why nothing from Soul Searchin’ (with its greatly enlarged horn section) was in the set. Obviously when you’ve done that many albums you can’t revisit them all. It’s natural to favour songs you wrote and sang, rather than ones you didn’t.

I assembled the LP sleeves from Discogs … AWB is a “hidden image” now- you have to log in to see it! This is the imager on the drum front. It’s also on Cut The Cake and Warmer Communications which aren’t hidden. One would have thought the white golliwog might have upset the extremely sensitive rather more than a curvaceous line drawing of a bum.

I was surprised at the lack of a merchandise stand. I was up for a T-shirt or two and picking up some of the discs I don’t own … I bought Show Your Hand and AWB on the day of release.

The Funk Finale? They look as if they could go on for another ten years to me, and I’m lost in admiration for the high standards of musicality and vocals, along with presentation and sound. Marvellous.

SEE ALSO:

My article at AROUNDANDAROUND on FOREVER MORE