The Manfreds frontman, Paul Jones, is still the epitome of cool at 83 years of age. He walked onto the stage and was greeted with loud cheers and clapping from the audience; he looks physically fit, his appearance belies his age, and his voice is in fine form.
The Manfreds, is an amalgamation
of 1960’s pop group Manfred Mann members, formed in 1992. Lead singer, Paul Jones left Manfred Mann in
1966 and Mike D’Abo continued the string of hits until 1969 when the band
split.
The Manfreds, comprising Tom McGuinness
on guitar, Pete Riley on drums, Mike Gorman on keyboards, Marcus Cliffe on
bass, and Simon Currie on saxophone/flute plus lead vocalist/harmonica player,
Paul Jones are on their Keeping It Live in ‘25 tour and are playing small,
intimate venues such as The Waterside Arts Centre. This venue holds
approximately 400 and on this evening it was mainly an audience of over 60’s who
would have been teenagers in the Sixties and who looked to be enjoying reminiscing
to the many hits of the 1960’s performed by the band. But Jones made a point of
telling the audience that the show would not just feature Manfred Mann hits as
all members of the band have musical careers of their own.
The set kicked off with ‘Watermelon
Man’ which halfway through morphed into ‘Bad, Bad Boy’ and then returned to ‘Watermelon
Man’, an unusual combination, featuring a keyboard and drum solo, but one which
worked.
Next came the big hit song, which
was written for the TV company, Rediffusion for their pioneering pop songs show,
Ready, Steady, Go, the coolest pop music programme on TV at the time in the 1960’s, ‘Five, Four,
Three, Two, One’ followed by a jazzy version of ‘Sha-La-La’ which reached No 3
in the pop charts in 1964. Jones encouraged the audience to sing along with the
Sha-La-La chorus.
Tom McGuiness showcased one of
his McGuiness Flint hits next, ‘Malt and Barley Blues’ featuring a keyboard
solo by Mike Gorman. Jones followed with the Bob Dylan number, ‘Just Like A
Woman’ featuring beautiful harmonica playing.
A lot of the featured songs
performed came from 1960’s LP’s and EP’s, such as the next number, Ben E King’s,
‘Groovin’ featuring Simon Currie on clarinet, and then ‘There’s No Loving
Without Your Loving’ which came from an EP which was in the charts for seven
weeks in 1965 at number 1.
Jones gave some background information
about his LP, entitled ‘The Blues’ for which he wrote every track, and which
was his first LP after thirty eight years.
Marcus Cliffe informed the
audience of his new album, Miracle Mile and performed a solo on guitar, a track
entitled, ‘Postcards From Happisburgh’, a very mellow tune.
Jones entertained next on vocals
and harmonica, the Howlin Wolf signature blues song, ‘Smokestack Lightening’.
McGuinness always seems to have a
smile on his face; he started as the bass player in the early days with Manfred
Mann and now takes the role of lead guitarist and vocals. He performed a somewhat melancholy number, entitled, ‘Losing
You Put the Blues in Me’ which featured a saxophone solo and then the upbeat,
popular No 1 hit song, ‘Pretty Flamingo’ was performed with amusing actions by
Jones and the band with a clarinet solo from Currie.
After a short interval when The
Manfreds songs were played in the auditorium, the band continued with vocalist,
Jones front of stage, who excelled singing the haunting, ‘Come Tomorrow’ reaching
high notes seamlessly, then Dylan’s ‘Quinn The Eskimo’, a jazzy version of ‘Put
It Where You Want It’ which included lengthy keyboard and drum solos and then
the infamous ‘Do Wah Diddy’ which I suspect most of the audience had been
waiting for. McGuiness performed his successful No 2 hit, from 1970, a collaboration
with Hugh Flint, forming the duo McGuiness Flint of ‘When I’m Dead and Gone’.
The band were called back on
stage for an encore, and they performed, ‘If You Gotta Go, Go Now, much to the
delight of the audience.
This was a very pleasant evening
of nostalgia for the hits of Manfred Mann and McGuiness Flint. Jones is an
accomplished performer, his vocals are amazing and his harmonica playing flawless,
and his talents were greatly appreciated by the audience. He is a perfect lead
vocalist, amazing harmonica player and ideal frontman; he is charming, talented
and has a charisma which is a truly excellent asset. He has an excellent
rapport with his audience, encouraging them to join in throughout his performance.
Catch the show if you can. The band is on tour – see further information at https://www.themanfreds.com/
Reviewer - Anne Horne
On - 5.06.2025
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