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Rating: London 1981 Hammersmith Odeon: the roar of the beast in the arena. Rock'n'Roll when freed from all chains of commercialism, cheap self-celebration, and crude sonic violence becomes a rushing river of poetic energy, a three-chord melody—bass-guitar-drums, instrumental tour de forces: Rock isn't invented but recreated on the stage, on the fingers dancing over the wood, in the romantic vocal vibrations of Myles Goodwyn akin to Lou Gramm, among the old-style sticks of Jerry Mercer, in the rolling solos of Brian Greenway, never identifying with instrumental grandeur or a feast of megawatts.
A few small image effects, Myles declaims: "Thank you very much and welcome to the concert", no affectation, no pursuit of speed, but a controlled dosage of nervous, never refined solos that rain down in "Sign Of The Gypsy Queen", then overlapping celestial refrains that become sharp rolling structures in "One More Time" and Hard'n'Roll traveling on two voices in the chorus of "Tellin Me Lies", while rivulets of melody mix with faint vocal whispers in the sweetening ballad "Just Between You And Me". A bare stage, few lights, and five musicians having fun without special effects, suffice to create a visual document not exactly phantasmagoric but at least experienced like a fairy tale with a happy ending, the Rock tale, a magical contagion that propelled five Canadian lads from Halifax (Nova Scotia) on a tourist trip to London. The concert images intersect with the walk of the five April Wine among London double-decker buses and screaming kids, a party that continues at the concert, opened by the wild riff of "Big City Girls" borrowed from "Bad Boy Boogie" by AC/DC", with Goodwyn as the frontman at the microphone and as a guitarist improvising without showing off, wearing a simple white and red t-shirt. The message from April Wine is clear: music before the parade, sweat before the glitz, Rock before Disco Music.
Yet they started with the western candy "Fast Train", in the early '70s, when Goodwyn's sweet voice was conquering the Canadian scene, despite not having Ian Gillan's power or Robert Plant's charisma. Pioneers of simple Rock'n'Roll which then regenerated into straightforward Hard Rock starting with "First Glance", up to the commercial success of "The Nature Of The Beast" (from 1981), April Wine were always looking from the gallery at the theater of Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, without ever striking. They find satisfaction at home with various singles: "Ooowatanite", "You Could Have Been A Lady" (cover by Hot Chocolate), "Bad Side Of The Moon" (cover by Elton John). Soft songs ("Like A Lover, Like A Song") alternate with more decisive chords like "The Whole World's Goin Crazy", scattered through various albums until 1981, when April Wine manages to condense their creativity onto a well-achieved platter. They find themselves in the land of Albion as the main attraction, but they don't feel rivals to Rush and Triumph, they were simply there before, even if now the guitars speak heavy and reveal almost the entire album in promotion "The Nature Of The Beast".
The sonic universe of April Wine passes through the accelerations of "Crash And Burn", without faithfully serving fast rock, or in the sleek and energetic melodic nuances of "Future Tense", without the immediacy of the songs reducing to a photocopy riff, to the effect guitar cherry lacking vocal harmonies to support it, as "Caught In The Crossfire" demonstrates, its uneven but gentle pace, varied in the moods of the six strings. A band that doesn't teach anything but embraces the lesson of the previous decade, renouncing Dance-Rock temptations or FM mishaps, not even paying much attention to the look, as it already happened with AC/DC who, Angus aside, certainly didn’t use flashy costumes.
This concert, despite its simplicity, remains a genuine testament to Hard Rock that winks at the '60s, a concentrate of spontaneous and well-played songs by a long-lasting band, famous on the North American scene though little known in Continental Europe.
Tracklist and Lyrics
03 21st Century Schizoid Man (00:00)
Cat's foot, iron claw
Neuro surgeons scream for more
At paranoia's poison door
21st century schizoid man
Blood rack, barbed wire
Politician's funeral pyre
Innocence raped with napalm fire
21st century schizoid man
Dead sea, blind man's greed
Poet's starving children bleed
Nothing he's got, he really needs
21st century schizoid man
04 Roller (00:00)
Gonna catch a flight to Nevada
Leave her friends at home in L.A.
Seven come eleven or blackjack
Gambling night and day yeah
Cause she's a roller now, a high roller baby
She's a roller yeah, a high roller baby
She likes to play for double or nothin
She's tellin all the boys she's hot
And everybody knows she's ready
To give it everything that she got
Cause she's a roller now, a high roller baby
She's a roller yeah, a high roller baby
People try to tell her she's crazy
She doesn't hear a word they say
Tellin all the boys to get ready
Cause she's givin it all away
Cause she's a roller now, a high roller baby
She's a roller yeah, a high roller baby
Cause she's a roller now, a high roller baby
She's a roller yeah, a high roller baby
Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye...
05 I Like To Rock (00:00)
Well alright, somethin's got you goin' tonight
Doin' all she can, it's alright
Come on can't you see
That when we all let go
We get high on rock 'n' roll
Journey to the stars, rock 'n' roll guitars, yeah
I like to rock, some like it hot, baby
I like it, you like it
I like to rock, I like to rock
I can sing, that's the kind of life for me
Want it loose and fancy free
Come on then let's go
And it'll be alright
We can rock 'n' roll all night
Journey to the stars, rock 'n' roll guitars, yeah
I like to rock, some like it hot, baby
I like it, you like it
I like to rock, I like to rock
Ooh, I like to rock
Some like it hot, baby
I like it, you like it
I like to rock, I like to rock
07 Tellin' Me Lies (00:00)
(Myles Goodwyn)
Published by Northern Goody Two Tunes, Ltd./CAPAC - ASCAP
Why should I be embarrassed
Say things I never mean
Worry too much for no reason
Can't last, not the way I'm feelin'
Tellin' me lies, tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies, tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies, no alibis
You say you're feelin' restless
I'm sure that's what you said
It's alright, just be on the level
There's no need playin' with my head now (ooh yeah)
Tellin' me lies, tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies, tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies, no alibis
Heartaches, always the same story
Heartaches, always the same story
No more sleepless nights alone
Last time, you're gonna lead me on heartaches
Two wrongs don't make it right girl
Someone has to be true
Come on, tell me how you want it
Just don't treat me like a fool (ooh yeah)
Tellin' me lies, tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies, tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies, no alibis
Tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies, tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies
Tellin' me lies, no alibis
08 Future Tense (00:00)
Each moment's just a reflex
Response is just a motion
The pressure never ends baby
I hope it don't drive me crazy
I don't wanna be a poor boy
It don't help to say gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme
I ain't foolin' myself now
All I know is what I feel
I know I don't like it
You can't disagree
Come on, say it'll be alright
I say yeah, yeah, yeah
Future tense, gone too far
Future tense, a world apart
Future tense, more than a feeling in my heart
Oh yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I feel a little unbalanced
Between the pros and the con men
I try for satisfaction
You always let it slide
Every day is like the last day
Whatever happened to 50, 50, 50, 50
I don't have a solution
All I know is what I feel baby
I heard about the good life
I'd like to give it a try
They say it's gonna be alright
I say yeah, yeah, yeah
Future tense, is what I feel
Future tense, is what I see
Future tense, as much for you as it is for me
Oh yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah)
If you don't like somebody
Say "leave me alone"
It's just like a bad time
You have to make good on your own
We're racing through time now
It's all hit and run
You say it's gonna be alright
I say yeah, yeah, yeah
Future tense, we've gone too far
Future tense, a world apart
Future tense, more than a feelin' in my heart
Oh no (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh no (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh no (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh no (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh no (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh no (yeah, yeah, yeah)
No (yeah), no (yeah), no (yeah), oh no
11 Sign Of The Gypsy Queen (00:00)
Lightning smokes on the hillrise
Brought the man with the warning light
Shouting loud "you had better fly"
While the darkness can help you hide
Trouble's comin' without control
No one's stayin' that's got a hope
Hurricane at the very least
In the words of the gypsy queen
Sign of the gypsy queen
Pack your things and leave
Word of a woman who knows
Take all your gold and you go
Get my saddle and tie it on
Western wind who is fast and strong
Jump on back, he's good and long
We'll resist till we reach the dawn
Running seems like the best offense
Staying just don't make any sense
No one could ever stop it now
Show the cards of the gypsy town
Sign of the gypsy queen
Pack your things and leave
Word of a woman who knows
Take all your gold and you go
Shadows movin' without a sound
From the hold of the sleepless town
Evil seems to be everywhere
Heed the spirit that brought despair
Trouble's comin' without control
No one's stayin' that's got a hope
Hurricane at the very least
In the words of the gypsy queen
Sign of the gypsy queen
Pack your things and leave
Word of a woman who knows
Take all your gold and you go
Sign of the gypsy queen
Pack your things and leave
Word of a woman who knows
Take all your gold and you go
Sign of the gypsy queen
Pack your things and leave
Word of a woman who knows
Take all your gold and you go
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