LA2, London (support to Pendragon)

11/06/99

Whitchurch Festival

06/08/99

LA2, London (support to Pendragon)

03/12/99

Whitchurch Festival

02/08/02

See also Martin Orford's solo set at Whitchurch 2000

Venue: LA2, London                           Date: 11 June 99

Setlist: The Last Human Gateway; Subterranea; Speak My Name; Jadis Medley; Giraffe Chariot; More Than Meets The Eye; Daylight Fades;
No Sacrifice; A Life Is All You Need; Old & Wise.

Martin Orford and Gary Chandler's set, as support to Pendragon, was limited to just under 45 minutes of playing time, but did not suffer for it. The set was tight, well played and contained a wide variety of material.

The set opened with Martin taking to the stage on his own, seated behind a single keyboard, Martin gave a superb rendition of the middle section of 'The Last Human Gateway' as featured on IQ's 'The Lost Attic', and it was a treat to hear it performed, so well, by a vocalist other than Peter Nicholls. When the song ended, Martin enquired as to whether anyone had attended the recent 'Subterranea' show "upstairs" (in the Astoria proper). The answer was a resounding "yes!", and Martin announced that, as an "experiment, because I'm missing four band members", he was going to play 'Subterranea' - INCREDIBLE is the word that comes to mind - performed as an 'unplugged' number, the song takes on a very different feel and, despite a slight slip-up on the words towards the end, was one of the highlights of the show for me. The final solo number was 'Speak my Name', also from Subterranea, but a song which Martin stated had been ear-marked for his own solo album, but which "IQ stole, inevitably as they always do" - a comment which was,I am sure, very tongue in cheek. This was, again, performed impeccably and, having heard this part of the set, I hope that Martin does intend to produce a solo album in the future as he is an excellent performer in his own right!

After this, Martin introduced Gary Chandler to the audience and, with no time wasted, they launched right into a Jadis medley which covered 'Falling Away', 'Sleepwalk' and 'This Changing Face'.  Gary then announced a new song, which he felt would appear if and when a new Jadis album came out, this track was called 'Giraffe Chariot'.  Well played, but hard to comment on objectively from a single live performance.  'More than Meets the Eye' was next on the set list, this is the title track from the first Jadis CD release, and it allows us to hear Martin's skills on the flute.  I have always found this song very stirring and the instumental parts put me very much in mind of IQ's 'Last Human Gateway'. A cut-down version of 'Daylight Fades', which in Gary's words was "missing big chunks that involve drums and bass", was next on the menu - it did not lose anything through being shortened - Gary's voice shone out against the guitar and keyboard backdrop. This was followed by two more tracks from the 'Across the Water' CD: 'No Sacrifice' and 'A Life is all You Need'.

"Thats all the Jadis we were going to do!", Gary announced to an enthusiastic audience.  As a final number, he gave the crowd a choice of cover songs: 'Old and Wise' (Alan Parsons Project) won out and the set finished to thunderous applause.

All in all, a great act - the only real problem was that the set could have been longer, but that having been said, the duo managed to cover a wide span of years and perform some new material in the time allotted to them.

Simon

Venue:Whitchurch Festival                  Date: 6th August 1999

Set list: No Love Lost; Speak My Name; Quilms; This Changing Face; Giraffe Chariot; No Sacrifice; More Than Meets the Eye; Weather With You.

Having seen Martin and Gary supporting Pendragon at the LA2, back in June, I was really looking forward to seeing them open the running at Whitchurch Festival.  However, shortly before they were due to go on stage, Gary was looking worried - there was no sign, as yet, of Martin Orford! The reason for this was simple; Martin had been playing in Tokyo the night before, with John Wetton, and had flown back, straight after the show, to play at Whitchurch.  The organisers did a great job, rearranged the schedule slightly, to enable the duo to play later, after Grace had completed their set.

Martin finally took to the stage, at 8:55pm, announcing in his typically jovial manner "Here we go, I'm bloody knackered - jet lag and all" - not that you would have known from the performance that followed! The set opened with a brilliant rendition of, the IQ track, 'No Love Lost' (from the album 'Nonzamo'), which was performed with passion and feeling, it was a joy to witness. This was followed with a more up to date number in the form of 'Speak my Name' from 'Subterranea', which Martin dedicated to his girlfriend, Chris. The final number in the solo part of the set was an instrumental called 'Quilms' which Martin advised us he had played to the audience in Tokyo the previous night! I had never heard this track before but was very impressed, the piece was essentially classical in style with a strong piano melody supported by some strong harmonies - excellent!

Without further ado, at this point in the proceedings, Martin  introduced us ".. to my old mate Gary Chandler, all the way from Hedge End". Gary replied, "It doesn't sound as good does it? ... from Hedge End - when he's just come from Tokyo".

The set continued with the Jadis track, 'This Changing Face'.  Unlike the LA2 set when this appeared in a Jadis Medley, tonight we got to hear the full song - the guitar work on this song was superb, and Gary's voice was strong and clear, as ever, while Martin's harmonies just shone through. The new song 'Giraffe Chariot' came next and, again, Gary made the point that this would appear on the next Jadis album - "It is happening, only very slowly" was his comment. 'No Sacrifice', from the 'Across the Water' CD came next, followed by the wonderful 'More than Meets the Eye', which was met with tremendous applause from the audience.

Martin came back to the microphone to ask "Do you want one more? I think we've got time". As a single encore, in an all to brief set, we were treated to a creditable performance of the Crowded House song 'Weather with You'.

Yet again Gary and Martin had performed a very tight set with just the right degree of audience interaction. Despite the stage time running to only just over 30 minutes, the mix of IQ and Jadis material was well chosen and well played to a very appreciative audience.

Simon

Venue: LA2, London                           Date: 3rd December 1999

Set list: Subterranea; Tatras; Last Human Gateway; Medley inc. a) Falling Away, b) Sleepwalk, c) This Changing Face; More Than Meets the Eye; Giraffe Chariot; No Sacrifice.

This was the third time this year that I have seen Martin and Gary in concert, and the second time supporting Pendragon.  Due to Friday traffic in the capital, they only arrived at the venue some fifteen minutes before the doors were due to open. Their soundcheck was somewhat hurried and it was fairly bizarre watching Martin playing a section of 'Gateway' on keyboards while Gary played something completely different in order to check sound levels.  Nevertheless, the necessary haste at this stage of the evening had no ill effect on their later performance which was, as I have come to expect, faultless.

They started promptly at 19:45pm - there was a very strict time limit on the set length of half an hour due to the fact the venue has to close by 22:30.  The format of the show followed the usual pattern  with Martin playing three pieces on his own before being joined by Gary.  First up was a seemingly effortless performance of IQ's 'Subterranea' which, I still think, sounds brilliant with Orford's vocal style.  This was followed by the instrumental piece, 'Tatras', which Martin usually plays with the John Wetton band.  This features on the album 'Nomansland' and is apparently named after a type of beer!   Martin's last solo piece was a moving performance of a section of the IQ classic, 'Last Human Gateway'.  Then Gary took to the stage with his acoustic guitar.

As at the last LA2 show, this part of the set opened with a medley of Jadis songs featuring 'Falling Away', 'Sleepwalk' and 'This Changing Face'.  This came over as a really strong piece with superb guitar work from Gary Chandler and Martin's backing vocals really adding depth to the sound, especially during 'This Changing Face' which was pure magic! Next came the track 'More Than Meets the Eye', which is still my favourite number from the first Jadis CD, and which bears more than passing resemblance to 'Last Human Gateway'. 'Giraffe Chariot' followed and Gary announced this will be on the next Jadis album - which has the working title 'Understand' and which will feature both Martin Orford and John Jowitt as part of the Jadis lineup.  Finishing off the set the duo performed a near perfect rendition of 'No Sacrifice'.

The audience reaction was again very enthusiastic and, had time allowed, numerous encores could have followed ... but it was not to be. Not to worry, next year gives us much to look forward to with the release of the new album and the long awaited tour with Shadowland, which, from what I have seen so far, should be considered essential viewing!

Simon

Venue: Whitchurch Festival                 Date: Friday, 2nd August 2002

Set list: No Love Lost, untitled piano piece, Speak My Name, Medley, The Last Human Gateway (part), Follow Me To Salzburg, Giraffe Chariot, Evensong, Daylight Fades, Where In The World, Old & Wise.

Martin took to the stage alone, said hello to the audience and settled himself behind a single keyboard to sing a solo version of 'No Love Lost' an IQ song from the Paul Menel era which he described as "safe territory, a very old song" before moving on to "dangerland - a new piano piece ... that's not finished yet".  This composition was a sweet and pretty piece with a romantic feel the audience obviously appreciated.

Martin completed his solo spot with a track from 'Subterranea'.  'Speak My Name' was a good choice, this song sounds well sung simply with just the accompaniment of the piano.

At the end of this piece Martin introduced Gary Chandler who took to the stage, picked up his guitar and introduces the set as being "stripped down versions of Jadis songs from various albums ... this is one of them ..." This medley of songs immediately strikes a chord as the pair's voices blend in superb vocal harmony, while part way through Gary performs a brief guitar solo.

At the end of the song Gary announces that he's broken a string and while he changes this, Martin takes the opportunity to play an impromptu piece - a section of 'The Last Human Gateway' - an IQ classic which was greeted with enthusiasm.

"He's not bad, is he?" Gary asks, returning to the front of the stage to introduce 'Follow Me To Salzburg' only to find that his guitar still needed tuning.  Once into the song the atmosphere immediately changes with levity replaced by rapt attention in the hall as the audience take in the sublime music produced by this talented and well matched pairing.

Another excursion into Jadis territory comes with 'Giraffe Chariot', which was again introduced with an exchange of banter while the song elicits a spellbound silence from those listening.

Next up is a piece from Martin's solo album. 'Evensong' is a beautiful number that is performed with the aid of the "wonderful magic box" which accompanies the flute playing that opens the piece with gentle tones, while the music slowly swells and builds as it progresses through to the end.

It's straight into the next number, 'Daylight Fades', enhanced by Gary's wonderful guitar playing - which falter towards the end. The audience laugh as he says at the end, "how unlucky is that?  Would you believe I've just broken another string..."

"I'm going to do the next one without any guitar leads" Gary announces and introduces 'Where In The World', adding the comment "I don't know how I'm gonna play this without a G ... I'll just busk it!" - very well he did it too.

"Do you want another one" asks Martin, a question that gets a very positive response, as he adds "we won't bother with that encore stuff" and Gary introduces Alan Parsons' 'Old & Wise', a fabulous song that shows his voice off excellently and closed the set on a high.

So, another super set from Gary and Martin, a consistently entertaining duo with a good line in banter that keeps their audience amused.

Marisa