ufo-logo@ Newcastle o2 Academy, June 14 2009

Predictably magnificent; magnificently predictable.
Few who witnessed UFO’s blistering 100 minute set would disagree with the first sentiment yet the predictability of their set list continues to split opinion.
 
Scouring message boards last week, I confess to being slightly disappointed on discovering that once again, the band had once taken a conservative stance in choosing which songs to play or perhaps, more pertinently, which ones not to omit.
 
The Visitor is arguably their finest studio album since The Wild, The Willing and The Innocent back in 1981. They kicked off with Saving Me, the opening track on it yet we were treated to just one more from The Visitor, the stand-out Hell Driver.
 
We were lucky because Hell Driver was only a late inclusion, having not been played at the opening concerts of their UK tour. Making way for it was Long Gone, from the aforementioned TWTWATI, which audiences over here haven’t heard live since the Paul Chapman days in the early-80s.
 
Baby Blue from You Are Here was also omitted which left When Daylight Goes To Town as the only song played which doesn’t come from the current album or from the pre-1980 era featuring Michael Schenker.
 
Yes, there were a couple of surprises, namely Cherry and Ain’t No Baby from Obsession, the last studio album to feature the German axeman.
 
The core of the set,  however, was from Strangers In The Night, which regular readers of this website will know I rate as the greatest live album ever recorded.
 
Beforehand, had I been asked, I’d have urged UFO to drop stables such as Mother Mary, This Kids and I’m A Loser for newer material yet these three were among the highlights of the night.
 
And there lies the crux. The atmosphere visibly lifted whenever the opening chords of a song from SITN kicked in.
 
Indeed, it could have been the Chicago Amphitheatre 30 years ago as the band played a glorious 40 minute finale of Only You Can Rock Me, Love to Love, Lights Out and Too Hot To Handle before encoring with Doctor Doctor and Shoot Shoot.
 
Yes, we’ve heard it all before but would the night have been any better with more diverse material being aired?
 
The honest answer is no…80 per cent of fans demand they play 80 per cent of SITN and UFO deliver in rousing fashion.
 
Afterwards, Phil Mogg complained he had a problem with his voice yet you’d never have guessed it with the 61-year-old singing beautifully throughout.
 
And his patter in between songs was almost as entertaining as the music itself. Pete Way’s showmanship was missed though replacement bassist Barry Sparks’ musicianship more than compensated sonically.
 
Andy Parker back on drums and the versatile Paul Raymond on keyboards and rhythm guitar are quintessential components while Vinnie Moore is now confident enough to inject his own unique style to guitar parts made famous by Schenker.
 
If he fails to match the crisp, clean sound of the latter on Rock Bottom‘s famous solo, his fretwork nevertheless brought gasps of admiration from the audience.
 
The night was helped by a near-perfect sound system and mix which also allowed support act Fable’s Last Stand to make the most of their time in the spolight.
 
The local band weren’t overawed by the occasion and unlike so many of their peers, they allow their music to breathe. There’s a touch of The Faces about them and on this evidence FLS are worth keeping an eye on.

Ian Murtagh