Manfred Mann's Earthband - On The Road 1971
The following reports are from The Highway Star web site and relate to the Manfred Mann Chapter III tour of Australia in 1971.
Melbourne Festival Hall 1971 Free/ Manfred Mann Ch III/ Deep Purple Tour
http://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/australia71/page1.html Manfred Mann
came on after a short delay. Obviously both Free and Manfred Mann had taken the trouble to tune their instruments beforehand. Apparently in England and America there is very little of the on-stage tuning up that we suffer continually here. Of course, it's understandable in the case where a band is moving from spot to spot on the single night.
I think Manfred Mann took us a little by surprise. It was hard to know how they were going to be. Naturally they weren't the same group as had been all those years ago, but nor were they the group that had put out the two Chapter III
albums. The surprise was how musically exciting they turned to be. It all resolves around Manfred Mann's keyboard antics. As well as the organ he used a couple of 'boxes of tricks' that send electronic sounds booming and whizzing acreoss
the hall. You half expected to see the sounds if you'd happended to look up. Only at one stage did Manfred play anything that sounded like ordinary organ. The rest of the time it was a thick, powerfil drone that created an incredibly textured,
alive feeling. It was an amazingly complex music, full of tempo changes, and style changes. In a split second Mick Rogers would change from a lead guitar role just playing rhythm.
The bass guitarist played a solo that sounded like a lead solo. I had to check that Mick Roger's hands were off his guitar. Usually bass solos are a succession of bubbling, booming bass runs. It was interesting how this and the incentive
drum solo were made to be part of a musical structure, to be a meaningful piece of what had happened before the solo and also meaningful to what was to follow. Usually drum solos just become endurance tests for the drummer and the audience.
Deep Purple's was like that, though technically it was indisputably a fine solo. All six minutes of it.
It takes an effort not to keep your eyes on Manfred himself all the time, as his sneakered feet march frantically with the music behind the organ, his torso swaying back and forth quickly hinged at the hips. He looks like an
academic. Like a beatnik, who never grew his hair with all the rest of us.
Sidney 1971
http://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/australia71/page2.html Manfred Mann Chapter III followed. Manfred had brought a four-piece group with him featuring australian Mick Rogers on vocals and guitar and Manfred with his organ, mellotron vc3 and
other sophisticated electronic gadgetry. Manfred was both electronic musician and magician, casting spells over his equipment and having it answer with a stunning variety of sounds. He finished his set with a super radical "Mighty
Quinn" and the second standing ovation of the day. Again volume and rhythm created the atmosphere for the group's sound.
Melbourne 1971
http://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/australia71/melbourne.html Manfred Mann came on and stunned 'em... for me, they were the best thing of the night... Chapter 3 are a beautiful sound... Manfred himself gave a display of effortless showmanship and
his playing was astounding... We always knew about Mick Rogers' talent, but seeing him in this kind of musical company was quite awe-inspiring... Russell Morris was only one of the people knocked out by Mick's guitar-playing, and his lead
vocals. His singing is beautifully mouled to the group's sound. Mick may be at the top luvvies, but he hasn't forgotten us... "I recognise a lot of faces from Berties, Sebastian's and the Tum" he told the audience... and little
wonder, because it seemed that everyone in Melbourne was there, which only goes to show that rock-freaks WILL turn out for a show that features a world-class line-up... Manfred Mann rocked into their "Mighty Quinn" hit and the whole
place was clapping and singing along with them... like Free, the crowd screamed for more when Chapter 3 left the stage...
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