Reckless In London

Karen Bettridge - UK

Our train journey of 305 miles from the South West of England to London took longer than a flight across the Atlantic! The previous night's storms had caused breaches in sea defences and gaping holes on a coastal stretch of line in Devon, a vulnerab le spot during bad weather when the seas are rough. We had two detours by road and the arduous journey seemed to take forever! By the time we arrived at our London hotel we had less than an hour before we were due to go out again. On concert trips we always travel the day before and do something productive in the evening like go to the theatre. This time it was the mega-successful "We Will Rock You" at the Dominion. I have to admit it was even better than Grease, although it's unfair to compare the two as musically they're poles apart.

The 29th (gig day) was upon us. We spent a leisurely morning and afternoon at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Nothing like a bit of variety, and no time wasted! After walking a couple of miles around the gardens we returned to our hotel with aching feet to get ourselves into concert mode!

Showtime! Cardiff in March 2002 already seemed so long ago so this one couldn't come soon enough.

the first time I'd seen them since reverting back to a 5-piece and I have to say it was much much better. There was always something missing when it was just the three of them, the live sound more basic and lacking in the ass-kicking stuff I know and love. A keyboard and extra guitar makes all the difference. Well, that's my opinion anyway. BA himself seems ageless. With his nice new short spikey haircut all he needs is a white t-shirt and a leather jacket to replicate the same look as a certain 20 year old album cover.Out went the lights and I got the familiar adrenalin kick I only get at concerts. Wish I could bottle it as a special potion for use when required. They kicked off with a couple from the new album - the title track and Open Road -. I was very slack in revising lyrics this time around so was shamefully unable to sing along. Flying was poignanly dedicated to the British Forces serving in Iraq.BA was recently made aware of the fact that Reckless was 20 years old so promised to play as many tracks from it as they could. They played all of them bar three. It made me realise how long it's been since I played my ownd Reckless CD, and exactly what I've been neglecting (which has since been rectified by playing it constantly in the car on the way to work all week). Run To You is one of my all-time favourites and has been ever since I first heard it in 1984, whilst still a 14 year old Duran Duran fan. "Tina Turner isn't here," BA informed us. "but instead we have Keith Scott!" During which Keith could've easily bitten off Bryan's finger when he poked it into Keith's open mouth while he was yelling".......and over agaaaaaaaaaain!!!"Heaven was heavy and played at double speed. Cuts Like A Knife we hadn't heard live for a while and it was nice to hear the audience participation hadn't dwindled in the least. There's nothing like several thousand people singing to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. Keith had some blistering guitarist-gone-mad episodes and wild axe-man antics. BA stood wisely out of the way as Keith bounced around the stage like a loose cannon, even bowing the strings a la Jimmy Page with a microphone stand. And still he remained upright. It's during these mad moments he's likely to step on something unstable and end up on his arse! Afterwards I half expected him to whip off his guitar and smash it up on stage before diving into the drum kit!

The WYG girl, Nicola, was a "Human Resources Manager" from London. "Booooo!" went the crowd. She admitted she couldn't sing and had forgotten the words due to shock! Ever helpful, BA handed her a sheet of lyrics. "We start at the top and go all the way down the page, that's how it works," he said. "Are you doing it first?" she enquired. "Pardon?" said BA, as a few thousand people sniggered. He turned and viewed us with disdain. "Filth!" he said, "you lot are filth!"

Someone threw a birthday card up on stage for BA. He picked it up and read aloud, "Dear Bryan, please can you introduce me to Keith" he tossed the card o Keith who stood reading it. "Oi!" Bryan shouted at him, launching into the next song. Keith threw the card over his shoulder and only just started playing in time. They hadn't planned on playing "Once Night Love Affair" during the encore until Bryan spotted a banner in the crowd requesting it. Evidently it came as rather a surprise to the rest of the band too. There was a brief consultation beforehand. The wry smile and shaking head of Mr. Scott said it all, as if that kind of thing happened all too often.

Bryan came back on by himself at the end for a couple of sing-a-long accoustics including All For Love. And then it was all over. Back to the tube station with a few hundred others. Back to the hotel. Sleep. Back on the train for another reverse 7 hour journey back to Cornwall. Was it worth it? Would we do it all again? Would tomorrow be OK?!!!, happened all too often