Place Your Hands On My Op (Reef - Live)

Member Name: a-true-ben

Product:	Reef - Live
Date:	20/04/03 (200 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good British rock band, Putting on a good show, The 'Glow' era songs most of all

Disadvantages: They're past their best(?), And criminally ignored these days

Those of you who remember before Reef became some kind of alco-pop may recall a time when it was also the name of one of Britain?s premier west country rock bands. They began their career with the not particularly amazing ?Replenish? before hitting pay dirt with ?Glow? in the mid-90s. Huge sing-a-long anthems like ?Come Back Brighter?, ?Summer?s In Bloom? and the top 10 hit ?Place Your Hands? providing the soundtrack to many a summer party.

Memory jogger:
?Oh place your hands, on my hope,
Run your fingers through my soul,
And the way that I feel right now,
Oh Lord it may go.
Put your hands on, put your hands on. (x4)?

In many ways, Reef actually resemble Terrorvision. Not just their similar party pop-metal anthems, but in the way their career seemed to peak with a second album full of classics that, to be honest, neither band ever quite lived up to again. Whereas Terrorvision managed a couple more hits - ?Perseverance? and ?Tequila? - Reef seemed to fade into security. ?Rides? failed to have much impact, and when they appeared on Ant and Dec?s chart show with fourth album ?Getaway? it was still billed as a follow up to ?Place Your Hands? et al.

For those that have stuck by the band, fifth album ?Together? is due 14th October 2002. Personally I don?t particularly care for them. Last term, I didn?t bother seeing them at the Oxford Zodiac. When their recent tour reached Colchester Arts Centre though, my mum made me a tempting offer. She wanted to go because she likes them (or, at least, singing along to ?Glow?) - she didn?t want to go alone so offered to buy my ticket (£10) if I went with her. Might as well I guess, another name I?ve seen ;)

Just to make clear where I?m coming from: my collection?s limited to a copy of ?Glow? - and although my brother insists they?ve improved since, I?m not really familiar with anything else. Since the local press is billing the band as a return of the mid-90s Brit-rock heroes
(dare I say it, of ?Place Your Hands? etc) I?m probably not alone there. I have the worrying feeling they may have become a parody of themselves, a Glow-era Reef tribute band if you will. At least, when Terrorvision played the Arts Centre, they played the old favourites everyone wanted to hear. I wasn?t sure what to expect before the gig, but hoped Reef would adopt the same approach, and give the crowd what they wanted (rather than playing more obscure newer numbers).

The only support act, called something like (but not) Monkey, were pretty good (7/10). They played from 8:30-9:00, and I got the feeling several of their songs could be real sing-a-longs if the crowd had known them. Unfortunately though people aren?t particularly interested, they?re here for Reef (and boy are there plenty of them here - been a long while since I?ve seen the Arts Centre packed with 400-500 people)

When Reef take the stage, they open with a song I don?t know, and follow it with their first single. Thankfully my fears are proved wrong though, they?re here for the Glow stuff too. Next we get ?Place Your Hands?, ?I Would Have Left You? and ?Come Back Brighter?. That certainly got the crowd going; I?m just wondering how much more the band have to offer when they just used two classic encore tracks?

Again I?m pleased to say I needn?t have been scared. A mellower new song breaks the rhythm up a bit, but the set continues to vary new and old songs, mixing in a number of other Glow favourites (including ?Summer?s In Bloom?, during which Gary steals someone?s cap, which he wears for the next few songs). While my favourites are those I know, the rest of the set is enough to convince me that reef certainly aren?t one album wonders (but not that Glow isn?t their best).

I?d forgotten Gary long ago lost his long hair, he now looks something like Tony from Terrorvision - and dances the same too! (Sorry, the comparison has to keep coming up). I didn?t think he was qu
ite as charismatic a frontman - although he gets down to the front row (who are behind a barrier) often enough, there?s not much vocal interaction with the crowd, and if they play many songs off their forthcoming album, they only introduce two or three. That?s more than made up by the two guitarists, who?re ready to take the stage when Gary departs - especially Kenwyn, who?d make a pretty good frontman himself.

The regular set ends, a smidgen over and hour, with ?Yer Old? before the band leave. There?s no way they?re getting away without an encore though, and I?m vaguely intrigued what - I was quite expecting a reprise of ?Place Your Hands? or ?Come Back Brighter? but I was wrong (again!)

Feeling the need now suddenly to start talking to the crowd, Gary thanks us for showing up and calling for more. The first song, he says, was the band?s third single; written about their record label after the band were ?stoked? to reach number 24 with their first single, and the label not so pleased. This is followed by ?Lately Stomping?, a little rant about how they were told to do a cover and aren?t selling out, said cover (which I didn?t recognise I?m afraid) and then another old crowd favourite - I think it was ?Naked? (though that may have been earlier in the set). During the final song, Gary walks out onto the bar (stage left) before climbing down into the crowd, from where he sings the second half before returning to stage for a final goodnight.

Overall - Reef aren?t the best live band I?ve seen (after all those comparisons, I?d say Terrorvision were better, but you can?t see them any more) but they?re certainly good. Next time I see some of their other albums in sales, I might pick them up; and I certainly wouldn?t turn down another free ticket (thanks mum!)
8/10

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