IQ, 20^th Anniversary Show at The Mean Fiddler 15/12/2001

Well, 20 years ago who would have said that the above title would exist (especially as the venue keeps changing its name! – Ed)?  For a band of IQ’s cred they are there, and for how many more years will they go on? After a good few Brittany’s, we headed off to the venue. You could feel the crowd was buzzing already, and at a little after 6pm, in we went!

Peter Nicholls walked onto the stage, and announced The Lens was back for a special gig.  Most of us know IQ rose from the ashes of The Lens, but this became obvious to all from the style and sound of The Lens music!  Retro style clothes like platform shoes and flares were the order of the day, and nice hair-do’s too! They all looked a bit familiar to me, but who they were, no one knew! (Tongue in cheek bit there folks!) A very good set of IQ/Camel style sound is their trademark.

Now, a short break and a bar dash, intro music and IQ were on stage! Opening with `Awake And Nervous`, the crowd was bopping around already. You could say it was a `greatest hits` show really, and `old` classics like `The Last Human Gateway`, `Human Nature`, `Just Changing Hands` just to mention a few to `The Seventh House` and `Erosion` from the last album meant a great night all round!

On the subject of `old` classics, former IQ bassist Tim Esau made a appearance on `Headlong` and later on `The Wake` while John Jowitt (bass) had a clapping and dancing fit to get the crowd in a party mood.  Guest sax player Tony Wright made his mark on `Human Nature` and `Capricorn` and with Pete Nicholls (vocals) in face paint, what more could you ask for!  Mike Holmes (guitar) was his normal self jigging about with Pete and John, and played as well as ever of course, Paul Cook (drums) was solid again, and last but not least Martin Orford had a great night behind his keys!

A special encore featured `Subterranea`, the Wings classic `Jet` and the Osmond’s `Crazy Horses` with the same bloke that played keys with The Lens playing keys!  I think Martin might have got lost when he went off stage! (Tongue in cheek bit part 2!)

IQ left the stage, the crowd went crazy, and that was it, the end to a great nights entertainment. Hope they are around for a few more years, because on tonight’s show, they played as well as ever, and a few people from across the water too, marked this special night!

Danny (Santa) Mayo

[Special thanks to Sam Smyth for the photos]

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