Ian McNabb is one of those artists that commands respect in the music business: a devoted musician who never really made it big but has doggedly kept going with numerous album releases and thousands of live shows.
On Friday night, McNabb fronted his former band The Icicle Works for the first night of their UK tour. The band began in Liverpool in the 1980s, rubbing shoulders with other Mersey groups such as Echo and the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes, and flirting with success.
To call this a reunion wouldn’t be accurate, though: of the original band members, only McNabb was on stage, a fact that he eluded to. ‘We might be a different line-up by the end of the gig,’ he quipped.
The front man is a charismatic presence on stage. Not traditionally handsome, and scruffily dressed, McNabb is nevertheless a riveting performer, a rousing singer and a superb guitarist. He can also throw in a note perfect Paul McCartney impression.
These days, with a black hat, straggly dark hair and denim jacket, he resembles Neil Young, one of his musical heroes (McNabb borrowed some of Young’s backing band for the 1994 Head Like A Rock album, a career highlight). As the gig wore on, the sweat soaked into his denim jacket, turning its upper half dark.
The songs, with their rousing, singalong choruses, were lapped up by the crowd of nodding men in their late 40s and early 50s. There were shades of Led Zeppelin and The Who in the arrangements, with drummer Matthew Priest particularly effective as he pounded the kit for all he was worth. It was hot, loud, and full of life. Long live Ian McNabb, one of British rock’s true journeymen.
Miles Salter
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