A twinkle in everyone’s eyes (From Swindon Advertiser)

A twinkle in everyone’s eyes

3:31pm Tuesday 13th December 2011 in Reviews By Flicky Harrison

A twinkle in everyone’s eyes

It was a rather strange, but wonderful, feeling to see Dave Gregory back on a professional stage and truly enjoying playing XTC songs again.

You could see the twinkle in his eye and the sheer delight of bringing Jason And The Argonauts back to life.

Dave’s diffident, almost shy, approach to the audience is in complete contrast to his fearsome talent on guitar.

His fellow band mates in Tin Spirits are only a whisker behind the guitar giant and give him the comfort zone to enthrall.

Tin Spirits opened amidst an atmospheric smoke screen with Glimmer, a long complex and stunning track sung with passion by Mark Kilminster, who really has nailed the front man job.

Many Swindonians will remember Mark in the Ludwig Beatles, and he became a teen idol to many youngsters in Stamford Amp, the resident band on children’s TV.

In Tin Spirits he has found his spiritual home, singing his own songs and the prog rock classics he loves.

The guys gave rocking covers of Genesis and Steely Dan, with drummer Doug Mussard singing, racking up the vocals as Dave and guitarist Dan Steinhardt went head to head with duelling guitars.

For me the icing on the cake of the first half was a new song called Old Hands. Other Christmas crackers were Ocean by Led Zeppelin, a Radiohead track and, the closer of the first half, a sing-a-long, feelgood XTC classic, Towers Of London, sung by Dan.

The second half began with a couple of numbers from the band’s latest album, Wired To Earth. The track Broken should be a single; it is personal to Mark and that touches everyone listening. It also has a corking solo from Dave.

Again Dan and Dave showcased their superior guitarmanship in a Frank Zappa extravaganza, Riders On The Storm, and another Steely Dan favourite, Reelin’ In The Years, which went down a bomb.

The finale brought us back to XTC, leaving a delighted crowd wanting more. Fab!

– Flicky Harrison