Wet Wet Wet get me wet with their aural sex (Wet Wet Wet in general)

Member Name: duskmaiden

Product:	Wet Wet Wet in general
Date:	08/12/04 (857 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Marti's voice, showmanship, pure musicianship

Disadvantages: expensive merchandise, support a bit weak

Wet Wet Wet are terminally unhip. That?s a fact. Maybe it is Love is All Around or Marti Pellow and his permagrin being the housewife?s favourite but they are always back of the queue when credibility is being handed out. It really is a shame because I have seen them live four times and they are a wonderful band. The last time was Tuesday 7th of December 2004 at the Manchester Evening News Arena.

For those of you ho are unaware who they are Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish band consisting of Marti Pellow on vocals, Graeme Clark on bass, Tommy Cunningham on drums and Neil Mitchell on keyboards (oh and Graeme Duffin their guitarist who is an unofficial member of the band although he has been in it since before the band had their first hit). They had the number one hit Love is All Around and notched up a number of hits between 1987 and 1997. The band fell apart in 1999 and I thought I would never see them collectively again. However they announced a tour earlier this year and me and my friend whop were huge Wets fans were ecstatic.
I was a wee bit apprehensive about the ticket prices. The cheapest ones were about £25 whilst the ones we got on the ground floor of the area were £37. I felt that was a bit steep as the last time we saw the Wets back in 1995 the ticket were only about £20 for the block nearest the stage.


The Venue

I had only been in the Manchester Evening News Arran once before (For the final of the Commonwealth Games Netball competition) and have not been to a big arena gig since the last Wets tour. I tend to go to either really small gigs or else festivals so I was unsure about the arena. I was also unsure of the seating only venue as I like to stand up and bounce and dance. On entering the arena I felt that it seemed very cold. There seemed to be no atmosphere at all.. One good thing about the MEN Arena is that it is so central and easy to get to by public transport as it is right next to Victoria railway station

Our seats were not too fad but I found I could not see the stage that clearly. I could hear everything though. It would have been good if there was a big screen so I could see the Wets up close



The support act was a prodigy of the Wets Dean Johnston. I was amazed as my favourite Wet Graeme Clark actually introduced him. I actually did not recognise Graeme at first just thinking it was a particularly sexy Glaswegian announcer which is pretty bad as Graeme is my favourite.
Dean himself was ok but nothing special. His music is acoustic singer songwriter ballady material. I just felt he was trying too hard to motivate the crowd and seemed to be a little bit desperate. I doubt some people hardly noticed he was on. The two girls next to us were talking a as I was a little bit. I think everyone was just waiting for the Wets to appear

The atmosphere suddenly changed as the arena filled up and it was near enough time for the Wets to arrive on stage. There was a really good vive, a big expectation. when they actually did come on performing their second hit Sweet Little Mystery the crowd were ready to explode!
There are a number of reasons why the show was fantastic. Firstly was the set list. It was a good balance between old and new: ballads and up tempo numbers: singles and album tracks that are still crowd pleasers. I am not going to comment on every song one by one. I could but I think it would totally bore you if I did that. They started of with most of the real oldies such as Wishing I was Lucky Temptation and Angel Eyes. Temptation is always a stand out track as Marti holds long notes that are superb and we always have a chance to out last Marti fun. They also played the latest single ?All I Want? which is really growing on me. It has some really nice Beatlesque backing vocals. The first real highlight of the gig (one of many) was Hold Back the River. It is a song about alcoholism and due to Marti?s trouble with the very subject in the late 1990s it was a really brave choice of song for him to do and he did it fantastically. It felt really bluesy and I do not know if it is because of age or the personal experience but he really has grown into the song.

A new song walking on Water really captured my ears. Marti?s voice on this was again mature and soulful. Pure aural sex!! It was a beautiful song although the guitar did resemble Fleetwood Mac?s Albatross.
The Wets are best known for their ballads which is a shame as they always throw in a number of up tempo songs such as Lip Service, Don?t Want To Forgive Me Now, I Can Give You Everything and East of the River. These are mainly album tracks but they always play them and I always want to leap about and just enjoy myself. Sham there were seats in the way
My final highlight of the set was Goodnight Girl. Actually it was not Goodnight Girl itself. I know it was one of their big hits but I prefer other ballads such as Brand New Sunrise. What was excellent was in the middle of the song each member of the Wets had a chance to sing a bit of a cover version. Graeme Duffin has a great voice and I was amazed at his version of Can?t Buy me Love. Clarky got nervous and messed up his song at the beginning a bit hey that?s live gigs for you. Neil bless him was nervous and perhaps the weakest singer but still perfectly passable and Tom with his rendition of Do they Know it?s Christmas Time and Help. He missed his cue but he did so in normal Tam manner with gentle affable humour. They finished the section off with Marti doing Wham?s Last Chrisitmas!! It really got me in the festive spirit. The band ended on as high with that blasted song Love is All Around. There were songs I would have liked to hear. They missed out favourites such as This Time and Brand New Sunrise but the set was pretty good. I doubt I would be satisfied unless they played their whole back catalogue!!

This leads me on to the second reason why I enjoyed the show and the Wets in general. They have charisma. Marti had the whole audience eating out of his hand. He really is a showman. His banter is great especially when it was with the others. I really wish they had more of it. I hate it when a band just plays without interacting with the crowd. I love a bit of patter it makes the gig more interesting, especially when it is flirtatious and full of innuendo. Marti and the Graemes did an acoustic set. We were to imagine it in our living room with the guys naked. I thought yes please as both Marti and Clarky are rather yummy. The crowd went wild and demanded Marti got his kit off. Innuendo followed. It was great!!
However I had not come for the patter. It was the musk and the Wets are fantastic. As said before Marti has an amazing voice which is soulful and beautiful. He can try anything from ballads to country to blues. I really wish he would be given more credit for his voice. The other guys are just as amazing. Graeme Duffin is an accomplished jazz guitarist and he really makes his guitar sing. The Wets always have a brass section on tour and this again adds an extra dimension to their music

My wonderful night was complete by a stroke of genius from the merchandising section. I had looked at the T-shirts, mugs posters and all the usual tat and did not buy any of it. I do not tend to buy merchandise at gigs anymore. My friend did buy an over priced program. It is a lovely souvenir and it was a bit of laugh to find out that Tommy has been to a Busted concert recently (he has an 11 year old daughter) however I thought at £10 the merchandisers were taking liberties. The piece of merchandise I did buy was a double cd of the gig. This was £15 but I did not grudge it on bit as I had a keepsake of those wonderful 2 hours I spent in the company of the Wets. It was hot of the press and nothing had been edited.

All I can say is that the gig was the best to date. I am not sure what happens now. I hope they do tour again and I will be first in the queue buying tickets!!

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