Simon RushworthBad Company — Live In London (Primary Wave Music)
Capturing the true essence of a band in the live arena is no easy task.
Countless attempts have resulted in disappointing failure — sets littered with sound issues and inexplicable mistakes or, worse still, those too slick to be real, tend to dominate a saturated market.
Then there are those live albums that bounce from track to track without any interaction from the people on stage.
It’s almost like someone pressed play on a studio tape and added the odd whoop and holler from the crowd as a lazy afterthought.
Live In London, by comparison, is how live records should be.
Given the calibre of the musicians on stage, it’s little surprise this is a masterclass in live performance.
Paul Rodgers purrs.
Simon Kirke is solid as granite.
And Mick Ralphs? Whether he somehow sensed this 2006 trip to the O2 Arena would be his final live appearance with Bad Company is unclear but one of blues rock’s finest six stringers bows out in incendiary style.
Then again, Live In London never falls into the ‘too polished to be true’ category.
And it’s way better for it.
An honest mix — straight from the soundboard — delivers an accurate representation of a band fast approaching its 45thanniversary.
Sure, Rogers, Kirke and Ralphs could have sounded even better — and maybe they did on the previous dates of the Swan Song tour — but they couldn’t have sounded any more passionate, authentic or committed to the cause.
A common bond between band and fans led to a set bristling with nostalgia-fuelled optimism.
It was Rodgers who later reflected ‘the rapport with the audience was deeply felt and they sang their hearts out’.
That Ralphs went on to suffer a stroke just days later adds to the sense that this special show was a deeply significant moment in rock and roll history.
Of course, the Company men never allowed their collective standards to slip.
And a decade down the line this stirring testament to a legendary band more than stands the test of time.
Mick Ralphs: master of his craft
Given what would follow, Simon Kirke wishes he’d hugged Mick Ralphs ‘a little tighter and a little longer’ as the curtain fell on a fabulous final night.
But a bullish, career-spanning set doesn’t sound like a fond farewell.
In fact, fans left every date on Bad Company’s 2016 UK headline run dreaming of more dates to come.
The Swan Song tour had rolled into London against a backdrop of wild expectation and three titans of the classic rock genre (joined by Howard Leese and Todd Ronning) were in no mood to spoil the party.
Ralphs, Rodgers and Kirke rolled out hit seismic after seismic hit but there was still time for unexpected highlight Crazy Circles — the deepest of deep cuts from a band that boasts a few.
Rodgers has since pointed to a particularly poignant rendition of Ready For Love as his own standout memory.
As the Voice of Rock belted out ‘Walking down this rocky road, wondering where my life is leading’ he had no idea long-time buddy Ralphs would be hospitalised four days later.
Feel Like Makin’ Love, Run With The Pack, Shooting Star and Can’t Get Enough are timeless staples of the blues rock playbook and a sold-out O2 Arena was treated to uniquely moving versions of all four… and more.
Spine tingling set closer Seagull may well have moved grown men to tears. So, so good.
Ralphs always focused on forging that special bond between band and audience and this long goodbye from one of the greatest guitarists in a generation succeeds in doing exactly that.
You’re always in great company with Bad Company.
It’s time to make Live In London a friend for life.
