Soft Machine - Ronnie Scott's London

Off down to London on the 15.13.  We're heading back to Ronnie Scott's for the first time in almost a year - Soft Machine recently released their 13th studio album (called, imaginatively, Thirteen) and tonight is the official launch of the album and of the tour to support it.  We've seen Soft Machine twice in the last seven months - it would have been three times but an incident involving a misplaced wallet, tickets and railcard prevented us from seeing them supporting Colosseum at Cadogan Hall last November (no names, no pack drill...).  Tonight's gig is sold out and I was slightly slow off the mark when booking, so we were unable to get a table in the "premium seating" section as we usually do, and were wondering what the view would be like tonight.

A straightforward journey down, during which I took the opportunity to listen to the new album for the first time - first impressions extremely favourable.  A cab to the corner of Denmark Street and Charing Cross Road, a (very) quick stop in Foyles and then a brisk walk through to Soho, where the fans were gathering:

The view from our table - actually most acceptable, and one that we would ask for again if we had difficulty getting our first choice:

I was immediately struck by the fact that drummer Asaf Sirkis's kit was fitted with two large acrylic discs, mounted between the cymbals and the audience.  This was a first for me, but given the volume of his drumming, the size of the room and and the proximity of the nearest audients it was probably a good idea.

The room filled quickly, as most punters were aware that, with the doors only opening at 17.30 and the band due on stage at 18.40, the staff would be hard pressed to get everyone fed and watered by show time:

We enjoyed a couple of house burgers, followed by chocolate tart with raspberry coulis (A) and chocolate ice cream (he who would like to be obeyed) and then settled back.  Bang on time the band took to the stage and kicked off with five numbers from Thirteen, which sounded even better live than on the album.  After the first couple of tunes, John Etheridge commented that he was of an age (50 years in the band) at which he was relieved to be playing the early show - pause - and that most of us looked like we would appreciate an early night.  (It's not often that I lower the average age of an audience when I walk into a gig, but this was one such occasion...)  An interesting trawl through their back-catalogue, and all too soon (20.00) it was all over - the band were clearly very conscious of the fact that the second house (another band) was scheduled to open its doors at 20.30 and the room had to be cleared and reset in a very tight 30-minute slot.

Out, and a brisk walk down to Shaftsbury Avenue, where we easily caught a cab back to St Pancras.  Earlier issues involving the cancellation of a number of trains to and from Corby had clearly not been resolved, and the upper concourse was packed with people forced to travel on those trains that were still running, leading to a much busier than usual return journey. On the other hand, it was good to arrive home at around 23.00, in contrast to our more usual arrival time of 02.00 when we've been down to London.

All in all, a great night - and we can now look forward to seeing them again (supporting Colosseum) at Cadogan Hall next November (lost wallets, etc permitting...)

Set List

• Open Road (from Thirteen)
• Lemon Poem Song (from Thirteen)
• Seven Hours (from Thirteen)
• Waltz for Robert (from Thirteen)
• Green Books (from Thirteen)
• Out-Bloody-Rageous (from Third)
• Song of Aeolus (from Softs)
• Joy of a Toy (from The Soft Machine; released as the first US single)
• 14 Hour Dream (from Hidden Details)
• Closing medley: 
• 10.30 Returns to the Bedroom (from Volume Two)
• Hidden Detail (from Hidden Detail)
• Hazard Profile Part 1 (from Bundles)

Encore

• Chloe and the Pirates (from Six)