ARTHUR BROWN

On a night when Southampton must have been asleep, Arthur Brown slipped quietly into the city late in the afternoon for his appearance at The CDDKMUSIK.COM Christmas Show. Arthur's performance was outstanding from the very first moment he took to the stage and the small number of people who turned out to see him were enthralled at the opportunity of hearing their lovable legend in the intimacy of such a small venue. Arthur touched the very soul of everyone with his sensational vocal contribution to the evening and won over more followers from all age groups.The Giant Pocket Orchestra - Nick Pynn & Chris Bryant provided an exceptional acoustic accompnyment to this, a truly memorable night.

The Master still performs better than ever and continues to go from strength to strength - his vocal capability is phenominal and his energy is unbelievable. His presence is indefinable and you certainly know when The Master is amongst you. A true artist - a genuine and down to earth man who is still in touch with his human side dispite being the legendary icon that he is.

On with the show. The lights dimmed, the atmosphere was spooky and with an eerie opening of dulcimer, bass pedal and guitar from The Giant Pocket Orchestra a tall dark figure appeared in the room carrying a lantern and a staff. With a dark cloth covering it's face the figure made it's way awkwardly onto the stage. Then towering above the audience, who at this stage didn't quite know what was happening, that distinct voice filled the room. Arthur had arrived. The evening started with "A Hard Rain", an old Dylan classic, performed almost in darkness with the dark shroud covering Arthur's face throughout the track. Haven't quite worked out the link with the shroud and the track, but it certainly captured the immediate attention of the audience who probably wondered what it was all about too. Anyway, this was the beginning of the Arthur Brown show - and it certainly was only the start of what was to be an outstanding performance. At the end of the track Arthur removed the covering on his face to reveal his true identity. Difficulty in extinguishing his lantern made one wonder whether "Fire" was going to be the next track but that would come later. Bob Dylan would have been proud to have heard Arthur's soulful version of his track and as an opener it certainly grabbed the audience's attention.

The next track "All The Bells", performed with passion and vigour - showed again the amazing vocal range that Arthur is so capable of - from deep baritone to alto - again the depth of the bass in his voice touched your very soul and vibrated through every bone in your body. A truly rich vocal contribution. The outstanding skill of Nick Pynn playing Guitar, Violin, Dulcimer and Bass Pedal and the strong accomplished guitar accompanyment from Chris Bryant added to the flavour of this song.

"I Put A Spell On You" - another outstanding soulfully sung track, with Arthur putting all his body and soul into - brought out more of Arthur's vocal and visual theatrics and capabilty.

Nick's dulcimer playing on the next track gave it an oriental sound. "Voice of Love" is outstanding and really touched the soul. Delicate and sweet, the impact was awesome and encapturing. The Master, towering over the room, sung with real feeling and the song brought a lump to the throat. Again the range of the vocals took you way down to the depths and lifted you way up to the heights as it moved back up the octave range. Beautiful touching track much appreciated by all.

"Fire Poem" very theatrical, powerful and amusing - vocal and visible reference to Tony Blair and Saddam, with Arthur ending up writhing around on the floor of The Joiners. This lead straight into "I Am The God Of HellFire and I bring you - Fire" - Arthur brought back the memories of when he appeared on TOTP all those years ago as he danced frantically about the stage. Acoustically this was just as excellent as the electric version. Never thought he would pull this off acoustically - but pull it of he did.

A request for "Silver Machine" resulted in a brief vocal solo of the track just to oblige. We weren't there to hear Hawkwind anyway.

The set continued with an excellent example of Arthur's vocal capability in the track "That's How Strong" - sung from the heart with again delicacy and power.

"Kites" gave the other members of the trio to show their outstanding skills. Beautiful violin playing and plucking wih a real bluesy feel and sound.

Sadly Arthur's last song of the evening came too swiftly. "Devils Grip" gave Chris Bryant the chance to show off his amazing competency and skill on acoustic guitar - shis lead break were excellent. A jazzy bluesy rythmn - this was an outstanding end to an outstanding night in the presence of "The God" Both guitarists Chris & Nick played superbly - Nick's strumming abilty and the delicate lead played by Chris made this a superb track to end the night on.


Arthur has lost none of his amazing abilities to perform and he is as lively and exciting as ever. He gives a full and powerful performance and embraces his audience with love and respect and in return they love and respect him. His backing band are superb and again capture the hearts of those listening and watching. As a man, Arthur is down to earth and as humble as they come. No airs an graces, he is a really nice and friendly chap. he is willing to give you his time and time spent with Arthur is just like being in the presence of a God. He makes you feel like you are as important as he is and listens intently to what you have to say. Also he gave time to the other bands and complimented them on their performances and gave them the pleasure of fullfilling their dreams by not only perfroming on the same stage but also by giving them time to speak to him. The appreciative audience were also treated to his accomodating attitude when at the end of his show he shook hands with and chatted with them as he left for the dressing room. A wonderful person - a superb performance and a show that left you feeling lifted. It also left you with the feeling that you had been in the presence of a very very special person. The Giant Pocket Orchestra sounded like a complete orchestra. You would never believe that the sound an acoustic backing would have filled the room so much. Thank you Arthur for bringing yourself and your amazing trio to Southampton - it was a privelage and an honour to receive you. Next time we will definately make sure you have a full house to play to - and hopefully that will be sooner rather than later. Arthur - long may you continue to entertain us - rock till you drop young man!

Find out more on Arthur, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Kingdom Come and The Giant Pocket Orchestra, buy his CDs and visit his Official Websites from here


A word to the outstanding support bands who performed so excellently on the night too.

Spyderbaby, who were invited to play at the last minute owing to a unfortunate cancellation by another band due to illness, played their hearts out and put on what I believe was onwe of their best performances. Spyderbaby's played an exciting and exhilerating set of their own style of heavy rock music which complemted Arthur's style. Well done Spyderbaby - you played a blinder and I am sure that as a result of that you will no doubt become a prominant band in 2004. Thank you Spyderbaby - you were awesome and your presence tonight was well justified and truly deserved!


Careless took to the stage at the end of the evening and brought the party to an explosive and exciting conclusion. They had a major impact on all present and gave 150%. A totally different style again, they put on their usual exciting and vigourous performance. Thank you Careless - you were exceptional tonight and only confirmed why we included you in the show.Your presence was also justifed and truly deserved.

Dave (CDDKMUSIK.COM)