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A GOOD NIGHT

Cat Stevens Tribute Night with Al & The Firecats – 19.03.05 at The Ent Shed, Bedford.
Review by George Brown
Photographs by Wolfgang Gaube AL and the FIRECATS - Cat Stevens Tribute Band from Austria, standing across the street  from the 'Moulin Rouge' aka 'Stavros's Restaurant.

The Austrian Cat invasion took place at the function hall attached to the Gordon Arms pub in Bedford’s Castle Road. Ent, by the way, stands for Entertainment Shed. It wasn’t the Royal Albert Hall but an ideal venue and the poshest shed I’ve ever seen. Great to find a club with a strict no smoking policy. The hall comfortably sat a hundred lucky people. The flickering candles on the table created an intimate 70s vibe. Cat fans had come from far and wide to see the event. A mature crowd, some parents had bought along their sons and daughters. A personal note, my guitar-playing son took some convincing to attend, but agreed when I told him that the Red Hot Chili Peppers had covered a couple of Cat Stevens songs!

The host and organiser, Michael Pipe introduced Al and the Firecats. The opening number was ‘The Wind’, which set the scene nicely. Then followed ‘Moonshadow’, it was hard for some of us not to join in on the falsetto at the end of the song!

Albert Eigner (vocals, guitar, acoustic bass) took us through the musical and spiritual story of Cat and Yusuf with Herbert Pilz (vocals, guitar) and Martin Reiter vocals, keyboards). Al was so humble with his introductions - the Cat, his songs and his incredible journey were the star. Al included all the details of Steve Georgiou’s religious quest. Yusuf, who had approved of the event, would surely be proud of being presented in this way.

High points for me in the proceedings: The 60s songs were just great. All of which were sung so charmingly and simply. Al sang ‘I Love My Dog’, then ‘First Cut’ and introduced ‘Matthew and Son’. He said that the reason Cat gave up music was because he didn’t want to work for ‘Matthew and Son’! The simple arrangement worked very well, with just piano, guitar and acoustic bass. It sounded really vibrant. They even did a 60s medley which took us through ‘Back To The Good Old Times’ (Cat’s first demo), ‘The Laughing Apple’, ‘The Tramp’, ‘Portobello Road’, ‘Blackness Of The Night, ‘View From The Top’ and ‘I’m So Sleepy’! The closing line of the last number brought a smile to many faces.

(center) Albert Eigner (vocals, guitar, acoustic bass), (left) Herbert Pilz (vocals, guitar) and (right) Martin Reiter vocals, keyboards)

The band had clearly studied Cat’s back catalogue and any deviations away from the familiar arrangements only enhanced them. Herbert’s guitar and vocals added great depth. Inge Shmuck’s violin accompaniment on ‘Sad Lisa’ and ‘Into White’ was impressive - Al said “…all the way from Austria just to play on two songs”!

Michael Pipe was invited to the stage to sing with the band on ‘Longer Boats’. He was clearly in his element. His wife Kim had revealed later in the evening that Michael had ‘rehearsed’ this during his daily fitness regime and had attracted attention by taking vocally unrestrained walks around Bedford singing along to his CD Walkman! It paid off, they reminded me of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on a good night! Their version contained the extra verse that Cat only used to sing in concert which was a nice touch. The calypso beat of ‘Tuesday’s Dead’ rounded off side one of the langspielplatten.

Albert Eigner (vocals, guitar, acoustic bass), Herbert Pilz (vocals, guitar) and Martin Reiter vocals, keyboards) with Michael Piper helping out with 'Longer Boats.

During the break, Kim Pipe entertained us further - speaking of Michael’s nervous energy prior to the gig. She said that he had assembled several items of furniture from flat packs at 6 am that morning! She read out some notes that Michael had taken from his various meetings with Yusuf’s p.a., Zafar. He revealed that Zafar had told him that when he first met Yusuf he only knew one of his songs - ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’. Yusuf had joked with him that he probably only knew that through Rod Stewart’s version!

Midway through, there was an auction to raise funds for Yusuf’s Small Kindness charity. Items included; Gerry Conway’s signed drumstick; signed tickets by Messrs. Islam, Conway, Davies & Allcock - two of the old band plus Maartin Allcock, bassist on the topical ‘Indian Ocean’, reunited on paper! The star item of the auction was Yusuf’s signed lyrics to the new Yusuf song.

Albert Eigner (vocals, guitar, acoustic bass), Herbert Pilz (vocals, guitar) and Martin Reiter vocals, keyboards) with Inge Shmuck’s violin accompaniment on ‘Sad Lisa’ and ‘Into White’

NOTE: One of these unique signed tickets is being auction for Small Kindness on Majicat. Auction Details All proceeds of the event are going to Yusuf's charity and after completion of the Majicat auction, the total sum raised for Small Kindness will be at least £1000 UK pounds ($1900 US Dollars).

The second half commenced with ‘Wild World’. Very similar to the version we know and love. The band played totally live. No backing tapes. There is room for a drummer but this is hardly an issue. Al’s accent is totally charming and he joked at one point “By the way, we are not English”!” Al introduced ‘Morning Has Broken’ and Martin, the pianist, as Rick Wakeman! Martin Reiter’s expertly played keyboards were so expensive it was as though Del Newman was there with them at times throughout the concert.

(center) Albert Eigner (vocals, guitar, acoustic bass), (left) Herbert Pilz (vocals, guitar) and (right) Martin Reiter vocals, keyboards)

‘Sitting’ was feisty and the hot blooded ‘Can’t Keep It In’ followed. Then Herbert gave us an absolutely fascinating story from his youth. He told a story dating back to the mid 70s, when he was a session musician. He’d travelled to London from Austria to a house in Fulham with a recording studio. He didn’t know the name of the artist or the song, but he’d been asked to join some other musicians and add some backing tracks to a song. He didn’t realise at the time that it was in fact Cat’s house. The thing that impressed him most was that there was a fluorescent green phone in the toilet! Cat wasn’t at the house at the time, though someone who looked very much like him was, Cat’s brother David! The song that Herbert had added backing vocals to was the David Gordon composition ‘Child For A Day’. True! So, by a strange twist of fate, Herbert was to end up in a Cat Stevens tribute band some 30 years later! Herbert, Al and Martin then sang their version of the song which gave a few goose pimples.

Albert Eigner (vocals, guitar, acoustic bass), (Martin Reiter vocals, keyboards)

The band closed the second half with the enchanting ‘Lilywhite’. They were then urged to return to the stage by the appreciative audience. The encore yielded 60 seconds-worth of ‘Tea for the Tillerman’. Then ‘Silent Sunlight’, with Herbert playing flute - Al said that he had been asked to join Jethro Tull but preferred the Firecats! They closed with ‘Banapple Gas’ and ‘Tuesday’s Dead’, which had gone down extremely well as the closing number of the first half.

Al Eigner at Walham Grove, London exactely at the house where Cat Stevens lived between 1970 and 1975 and where Herbert sung and recorded with David Gordon the Demo for "Child for a day".

As the audience stood and showed their appreciation, Michael asked if they could manage another song. ‘Don’t Be Shy’ was the final classic number. This second encore was the first for the club after 130 concerts apparently. The band had played for two hours and thirty minutes, we were not short changed. “Happiness”, judging by the cheers at the Ent Shed, is indeed “listening to Cat Stevens” - the motto proudly displayed on Martin Reiter’s t-shirt.

 

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