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All Pictures copyright of Richard Ingham (C) 2005 for Aorock
SHY - Live in London - The Camden Underworld - Saturday 3rd December (with Vaughn)
Shy arrived in London to play at The Camden Underworld , hot on their very well received set at Firefest II. Tonight Shy were in Support to Vaughn. Tonight's set would be short, but a good crowd had assembled to see the return of Shy to London. I might be wrong but the last time Shy played in London with Tony Mill's on vocals was when Shy played The Astoria on The Misspent Youth tour before touring the States.
Enough of past gigs Shy were back and eager to prove themselves on the Live stage again. Tony Mill's introduced himself and the band to the audience and kicked straight into Breakaway from Unfinished Business. Tony Mill's sounded excellent an was ably backed by the band. Steve Harris had lost none of his verve for superb Guitar work, his fingers nimbly working through the notes as the Crowd warmed to Shy. Ian Richardson and Roy Davis worked well together on Guitar/Bass Guitar and Bob Richards on drums & Joe Baskettes on Keyboards completed the line up. Shy sounded tight and did not disappoint. Breakaway is an energised and fast flowing song, with Tony shining and Steve Harris moving effortlessly through the solos. This brought back good memories of many excellent nights at The Marquee from Shy's Excess period.
Before the audience had caught it's breath Shy moved quickly into the superb Skydiving , once again from Shy's comeback album Unfinished Business. Tony Mill's took charge of the stage and Shy really rocked during this song. Steve Harris once again a star on the lead guitar. They only had a short time to play tonight but they were going to make the most of the time they were allotted. The crowd responded well to this smooth flowing AOR.
Shy moved quickly into their first Excess All Areas track of the night - Emergency. This hadn't lost any of it's impact and re enforced that Shy play classy AOR. Another tightly delivered song confirmed Shy meant business and weren't here for the ride. Emergency only tasted the audiences taste for more Excess All Areas tracks. Shy duly delivered with Tony Mill's announcing that he was going to play When The Love is Over, a ballad, which with a voice like his - it made complete sense and a slower number was due. This sounded superb, with Tony delivering the song with passion as you would expect. This was a good contrast to the faster more frenetic songs that has been played before. Once again well received.
It was time to move into a song that I always liked back on the Excess Tour, Tony asked the audience for some assistance with some traditional rock over head clapping. The crowd responded well to this and Shy launched into Can't Fight The Nights. This was one of the best songs of the night, and the audience enjoyed it too. Steve Harris was now in full flow and Joe Baskettes, Bob Richards and Ian Richardson all seemed to be now forming into a well oiled rock unit. Roy Davis was obviously enjoying the night and was providing a vital rhythm section on bass.
Shy were genuinely enjoying themselves and as this was Vaughn's gig, they were definitely winning over friends and as well as reminding fans of their past. Remember Shy has trod the boards with Gary Moore, Meat Loaf, Bon Jovi any many more. Their class was there for all to see then and now. Shy finished the song to a more and more responsive audience.
It was time to go into a heavier song, a single from Excess All Areas, co-written by Don Dokken of Dokken fame , yes you guessed it , it was time to play Break Down The Wall's. This is a song that was often played in an encore or at the end of the set. So obviously Shy had another song saved for the end of the show, as time was moving on. Break Down The Walls was never a single for me, but an excellent live track. All band members pulled together and this song kicked ass. The only disappointing thing was that this was the penultimate song of the night, as Tony announced that due to time constraints that they had one more song to play. Anyone who had witnessed Shy's Firefest II set knew what was coming.
Tony announced that Shy would play out on No Other Way , once again a track from Unfinished Business. A few moans about it being the last song, but tonight with the allotted time there was No Other Way. This song would prove to the track of the night, superb vocal delivery, free slowing guitar solos. Keyboards , strong drumming and rhythm section. The lights pulsated, the band rocked The Camden Underworld, and SHY delivered big time. Hands aloft they acknowledged the crowd with Tony Mill's announcing that he would see them later. The audience cheered and Shy had finished their set.
It had been a really good night for Shy. Any disappointments. Only a few for me. The Length of the set (unavoidable) , no Reflections (once again understandable with set length) and no tracks off the brilliant Sunset & Vine. I really had hoped to hear High Time and Slowly amongst others. But with a short time on stage only so many songs could be played. I'm sure Shy will play tracks from Sunset & Vine which for me eclipses Unfinished Business when they play their own gigs. However Tonight Shy made a welcome return to London, won some new supporters no doubt and I look forward to them returning to London as soon as possible.
Review by Richard Ingham for Aorock (c) 2005
Set List
Breakaway (From Unfinished Business)
Sky Diving (From Unfinished Business)
Emergency (Excess All Areas)
When The Love is Over (Excess All Areas)
Can't Fight The Nights (Excess All Areas)
Break Down The Walls (Excess All Areas)
No Other Way (Unfinished Business)
The above tracks are on the recently released best of Shy album "Reflections The Anthology" ON A 2CD release featuring demos from Misspent Youth and tracks from all Shy's main albums: Once Bitten Twice Shy, Brave The Storm, Excess All Areas, Misspent Youth, Welcome To The Madhouse, Unfinished Business, Sunset & Vine. It also features a few other rarities and acoustic version of Young Heart from Excess All Areas.
