10 cc – at Music Hall – Aberdeen, UK

Looking far younger than his 66 years, Graham Gouldman walks onstage at 7:30 pm to start off the half hour acoustic set that precedes 10 cc's full electric shows.

His band members join him one at a time as the acoustic set progresses. Rick Fenn, Mike Stevens and Mick Wilson join in as Graham singssongs from his back catalogue of hits he wrote for other artists such as Pamela, Pamela, No milk today and for your love. He also debuts a new song he’s written recently which fits in well with the other hit numbers.


Then there’s a twenty minute break before the band returns, along with drummer Paul Burgess to give us an hour and a half of sheer musical magnificence. The talent that these guys possess is simply incomparable! Each of them is a multi instrumentalist, swapping between guitars, bass and keyboards and each of them has excellent voices (although Paul Burgess stays on drums and percussion throughout and contributes no vocals). I cannot claim to have been a huge 10 cc fan, though I liked all their singles, but these guys are outstanding live. It`s forty years since they released their first single, `Donna` and it gets an airing tonight, along with 'Dreadlock Holiday', 'I’m not in love', 'Life is a minestrone', 'The Dean and I'.

As when we saw them previously, they play an astonishingly good version of 'I’m Mandy, fly me'. They also play some lesser known tracks from `Deceptive bends` and 'Bloody tourists' and other albums. Rick Fenns guitar solo on their immense version of 'You won’t feel the benefit' is breathtaking. Mick Wilson is superb throughout, displaying his mastery of various instruments and also his superb vocal range, which allows him to reach the high notes on `Donna` and other numbers faultlessly. We get a stunning bass solo from Graham Gouldman and Mike Stevens keyboards are tremendous throughout. Seriously, these guys are right out of the top drawer as musicians and there are no weak songs in the set at all; every one is a masterpiece. Most of the songs draw huge applause from the crowd.

The Concert Hall is not full, but it’s a more than decent crowd for a band whose heyday was over three decades ago. Just goes to show there’s always a market for great music and great musicians, no matter from what era they come. We’re all on our feet to salute them as they leave the stage at the end of the set. The noise from the crowd must have echoed all the way back to the bands dressing rooms. They return to a storm of cheering and clapping and some people make as if to sit down again now the band has returned, but the magnificent Mr.Gouldman tells them-”Oh don’t sit down, you’re wasting your time because you’ll be back up in a minute” and the band launch into an extended and fantastic version of 'Rubber bullets'. Mike Stevens gets to play us some sensational Saxophone during this and the whole place is dancing along. Wonderful.

10 cc join our list of `Must see` artists and rank right up alongside The Hollies as the best live bands I’ve seen.

 

                             More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-John Millar-
Big Wheel Overseas Contributor

 

 

 

 

Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews

 

Send your comments to the editor HERE