Yes! Paul Gaskin is back. After a few short weeks out of the line-up negotiations have produced a compromise
where Paul will continue to take the lead whenever work commitments will allow and Keith Mullard will step in for the remainder of
the gigs.
The "One Foot In The Grave Tour" has certainly had its ups and downs so far. It was an apprehensive start to the first
set, but after two or three numbers the smiles and the witty banter were back and by the end of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The
Wall" it was business as usual.
After the break, set 2 was vintage Cracker 2. Mick Helps' vocals were in fine form, the rhythm
section being tight and melodic with Ian Leaning's understated rhythm guitar (which is certainly not the case for his banter), Rod
Williams' wonderfully melodic fingered bass style and drummer John Law keeping it all together at the back.
I always find the
acoustics at The Mallard a little strange with some sounds booming in your ears while others become muffled in the reverberation around
the room but hats off to Derek who managed a good basic set up and then tweaked and improved on it as the set progressed.
By
the end of the encore it was all smiles in the Cracker 2 camp and long may it continue.
D & L
FRM: Thanks
for the review guys. Some excellent pics too - we love how you've caught the lighting effects - nice one.
