Setlist
My Room
The Siren Song
A Better Time
Gone Ahead
Vision
The Comet, The Course, The Tail
If I Could
Amnesiac
Shingle Song
Patient
Easy to Slip Away
Bubble
Four Pails
Stranger Still
Traintime
Still Life
In The End
This concert was part of the “Mind Your Head 2004” season of shows on the South Bank. The last time I had seen pH was way back in 1997, but both me and The Missus were sick with the flu and were so dosed up with cold medicines that neither of us remember the show too well.
Anyway, this was a solo performance from Hammill and he came on promptly at 8.00pm to a round of applause and immediately performed “My Room”, one of my favourite VDGG numbers, at the piano. I said to the Missus, “OK, we can leave now!” when he had finished. He received raptuous applause and remarked how happy he was to be here. Of course, for those of you who don’t know, pH suffered a heart attack last winter and has only just started to return to live performance.
He then worked through a number of songs at the piano including a track from his new “Incoherence” album and the song “Vision” from “Pawn Hearts”. It was good to hear so many older songs performed such as “A Better Time”, “The Comet, the Course, the Tail”, “Shingle Song” and “So Easy to Slip Away”. It was real mixed bag.
He then moved onto the guitar and performed a couple of songs. My attention was distracted by a rather drunk fellow, who decided to descend from his seat and plonk himself in the aisle right next to me. He proceeded to lurch and falter from side to side, occasionally grunting approval at the proceedings, but most often staring wildly in space and not really “attending” the concert. Luckily, once pH returned to the piano, this drunken fool returned to his seat. Hurrah!
Other songs such “Patient”, “Stranger Still” were well performed and towards the end of the set he even had time to trot out another VDGG track in the shape of “Still Life”. He promised us one encore, which he delivered and then it was off in to the night air.
Because of pH’s immense back catalogue I have missed some of the that he played out. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan, but I am useless at compiling set-lists. I leave that to the proper pH fan-boys.
And I would love to thank the loudmouth Yank whose shouts of “I love you Peter” and “You are fucking awesome, man” etc, always came during the quiet bits. I hope you had a good time.
Anyway, a great gig and I look forward to catching him again with his full band. Not exactly a fun-filled evening (pH’s work isn’t exactly a laugh-a-minute) but a worthwhile excercise in sitting still and concertrating for 1 hour 45 minutes.

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