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Family - Reunion Concert

Venue: O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Town: London
Date: 2nd February 2013
Website: http://www.familybandstand.com

And so the long wait was over for fans of legendary band Family, who had not played together since October 1973. When I learned that they were reforming for a couple of shows in February 2013, I knew that I had to be there. The only time that I had previously seen them play live was in November 1971, when they were touring their classic album "Fearless". This reunion was timed to coincide with the release of a massive retrospective 14 CD box set titled " Once Upon A Time", which contains their entire catalogue. The reunion featured singer Roger Chapman [how could it not!], vibes player John "Poli" Palmer, drummer Rob Townsend and guitarist Jim Cregan. Conspicuous by his absence was guitarist and songwriter Charlie Whitney who had elected not to leave his home in Greece, a fact that Chappo commented on more than once during the show! Instead of Whitney, we had the excellent Geoff Whitehorn on lead guitar, as well as Nick Payn on sax, flute and harmonica, Gary Twigg on bass, Paul Hirsh on keyboards and John Lingwood on drums. These five musicians were referred to by Chappo as the "In Laws".

This was one of the most eagerly-awaited concerts in years and fans had travelled from all over Europe and America [and probably further] to be there. It made my 500-mile round trip seem inadequate somehow!

Opening the evening was acclaimed London bluesman Papa George who got the audience into the groove with his superb bottleneck steel guitar playing and deep vocals on numbers such as "Blues With A Feeling", "Crawling King Snake" , "Black Jack" and "Rollin' and Tumblin'". An excellent performance from a master bluesman [he's also a nice guy, having met him in a nearby Chinese restaurant before the show!].

And so the big moment arrived. Family were introduced by legendary Leicester City [and England] striker Frank Worthington, who told us that his musical hero was Elvis Presley. Family then took to the stage to rapturous applause and launched into "Top Of The Hill" with some great vibes playing by Poli. It was clear that this band meant business, having spent "two weeks of abstinence, which was hell" according to Chappo, preparing for the shows. The rehearsals had clearly paid off, as they were extremely tight in all departments. Chapman's vocals were astonishingly powerful, on numbers like "Drowned In Wine" "Hung Up Down" and "No Mule's Fool". Family always were an adventurous band and this was evidenced on the jazzy instrumental "Crinkly Grin" and the following "Burning Bridges", on which all of the lead instrumentalists took superb solos.

The range of Family's music was evident from the funky "Part Of The Load" and "Burlesque"[ with Jim Cregan on double-neck guitar], through to the singalong "Sat'Day Barfly" and the beautiful acoustic ballad "My Friend The Sun".

Roger dedicated "Between Blue And Me "to the absent Whitney on his Greek Island -"Are you listening Charlie?".

The band finished their set with a storming version of "In My Own Time", which featured a great sax solo from Nick Payn. Of course, they had to return for some encores. The first of these was one of my favourite Family songs "Weaver's Answer" [I bought the single when it was released in 1970 and still have it] and the last was "Sweet Desiree". Roger Chapman told us that this was "the night of my life" and who can argue with him. Touchingly, he paid tribute to those former members of the band who are no longer with us - Jim King, Ric Grech and Tony Ashton as well as those who were absent [ John Weider, John Wetton and Charlie Witney].

Looking back on it, this Family reunion was everything that I hoped it would be and a great deal more. Let's hope that it is not the last !

Peter Cowley