IQ At The Met, Bury, 2^nd October 2004

The Dark Matter UK debut performance proved to be a great show with IQ playing to a near capacity crowd in Bury. In this very venue seven years ago, the Subterranea album was premiered, and it only feels like a couple of years ago too. With the now trademark triple video screens behind the band, IQ performed the whole album in the set of old and later material with clever images to match most of
the songs.

The set was near identical to the shows in Holland and Germany (see reviews) and opened with a synth type intro before Martin Orford hit the opening chords to Sacred Sound. The crowd cheered when the other members appeared one by one on the stage, and last but not least, Peter Nicholls all in black took to the mic. After the Dark Matter opening, the band then went back over 20 years and performed the old favourite It All Stops Here. With the crowd singing every note, this was the home banker, including the 1 2 3 4 chants midway through.

The stage lighting was as you can see from the pictures a 'dark' feel, which I felt worked very well, making way to a clear view to the images on the screens. This was highlighted on Red Dust Shadow, with a low red light effect which made the song stand out, and of course IQ were on their usual track by this time. You Never Will followed with a blink of an eye after Red Dust, and back to the classic from Nomzamo, Common Ground was next. The crowd loved this song judging by their noise at the end of it, with the band shining in all areas. From the Subterranea album, Failsafe was performed next, and in my opinion Peter Nicholls vocals shone through on this one, and not to mention Martin Orford's Keyboard sounds too. Born Brilliant from DM was next, and Peter said it is a song about everyone is born with a talent, and he told a little tale about himself and Mike Holmes.

From the classic IQ album in many peoples minds, (mine too!) The Wake, The Outer Limits filled the venue with loads of cheers, and John Jowitt's bass sound made this a great piece. Harvest Of Souls, the final DM song of the evening was for me a emotional part, with the images on the screens, and this could go down as a classic in the years to come. Again the Seventh House proved to be a winner, in musically and image terms, with all the band on top form, and Leap Of Faith from Ever ended tonight's set.

Headlong and Awake And Nervous were the two encores, with the latter leaving Martin Orford on his own to start the whole thing off. As the opener Sacred Sound, the other members scampered onto the stage like mice and made this a top comedy moment.

The band left the stage, to a Star Wars type theme on the screens announcing the long awaited forthcoming IQ20 DVD which fingers crossed will be ready for the Tilburg show in under two weeks time. The Hairless Heart Herald will be there at that show, and a review of the DVD will appear on this very site too.

Another show under the belt for IQ, five more before the close of the year, if you can make it to any of these shows, you will be in for a fine example of the classic IQ we all know today. (More photos below)

Danny Mayo

IQ

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